Hey everyone,

I am posting this not again because my friend actually changed her twitch streaming name and I didn't notice. I went back and fixed it in the old notes, but I wanted to make sure that people saw it and having it on the most recent chapter is best. I'm not trying to spam you with this!

Just a reminder about my friend who is drawing Kiyoko live on stream. She sketched out Kiyoko today (August 12th) and she looks amazing! We're on to the digital painting stage tomorrow (August 13th) and I am so excited for it! Please join us beginning August 13th at 1pm Eastern Standard Time and support a small artist. Have some chats with us about anime and please give her a follow if you enjoy her work.

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Civil Affairs

Chapter 28

Letters From The Vault

It was March 4th, 1463.

Iruka and I had decided to treat Naruto to some Ichiraku Ramen after a particularly hard day at school. According to Iruka, Naruto had been having a difficult time getting along with the other students, particularly Sasuke Uchiha. I thought back to the day that Naruto had questioned me about who was caring for Sasuke and I couldn't understand why he had decided to be at odds with the boy after the compassion he'd displayed.

Despite my lack of understanding, today in particular Naruto had challenged the other boy in class then failed - resulting in him being laughed out of the classroom. Iruka had told me, when he'd arrived in my office this afternoon, that originally it seemed like Naruto hadn't been bothered. This wasn't exactly a solitary incident, since Naruto made a habit of clowning around, and Iruka had assumed he would be fine. Like he always was. Naruto was difficult to cow and he didn't pay his classmates much attention. However, when he'd gone to check on him after lunch, he'd realized the boy was more morose than usual.

So, that's why he'd come to me and suggested we take the boy out to dinner. Iruka was under the impression that Naruto would be more likely to open up to me about what was bothering him.

It didn't take me long to realize that Iruka was right to be concerned. While Naruto would usually devour bowls of ramen like they were potato chips, he had barely touched one. Even Mr. Ichiraku was looking at him from the back of his shop with concern.

I didn't prod at the problem, instead just eating my own ramen daintily and sipping my tea. I figured when Naruto was ready he would talk...I'd never been able to force Naruto to do anything and I wasn't about to start now. I supposed I could convince him that he wanted to tell me. That was usually how I dealt with Naruto's moods and stubbornness, but something held me back. Iruka, not used to the silence, had a forced smile on his face as he played with his noodles - he was picking them up and dropping them with little enthusiasm.

After almost an hour, when I was on my fourth cup of tea, Naruto finally asked a question.

"Miss Shiranui," He began, and his voice was heavier than I'd ever heard, "Why does everyone hate me?"

I heard Iruka choke on his now cold ramen broth, Mr. Ichiraku cast the three of us a worried glance and I paused with my teacup centimeters from my lips.

"I-is this about what happened in class, Naruto?" Iruka suddenly burst, a bead of sweat forming on his brow. The way Iruka had described it the other students hadn't been nice, but they hadn't been cruel to Naruto either. If anything, they just sounded like they had expressed annoyance at his antics - not hatred. It didn't make sense that what had happened in class would make him ask that question and Iruka knew it.

What had he heard and from who?

"No, it's not about that." The boy mumbled, looking down into his bowl absently.

I cast a glance at Iruka out of the corner of my eye and the man stared back, clearly fighting a frown.

I knew why the villagers hated Naruto. Everyone over a certain age knew the truth, even if we were forbidden to speak of it. Since his question was 'why does everyone hate me?' and not 'why did no one tell me I have a demon inside me?' I assumed he hadn't heard that truth. But someone had expressed open hatred towards him, a hatred he couldn't understand, which had led to his change in attitude. This wouldn't be the first time he'd experienced that in his life, but you could only go through that so many times before you started to ask...why?

What was I to do?

I couldn't tell Naruto that the villagers hated him because he was the container of the Nine-tailed fox. I couldn't tell him that most of the villagers saw him as the demon itself and not just a container. I couldn't tell him that someday he was most likely going to lose control and he was feared because of it...nor that said fear bred hatred.

I don't think I could ever bring myself to lie to him either. I was already plagued with guilt over the secret of his parentage which I had been assigned to guard. I was only able to make that bearable by telling myself that Naruto had never really asked me, therefore it was not a lie, just an omission. He had asked me why he didn't have parents, but he had never asked me who they were.

This was going to be another one of those situations where I would be forced to omit the truth. For my own safety, since I would be arrested if I told him, but also for Naruto. No good would come from him knowing the truth...not when he was this young. When he became a genin perhaps Lord Third would choose to tell him. After all, when he was a formal ninja and tapping into his chakra, he was bound to discover that there was something inside him that didn't belong.

But that was above my pay grade. At my pay grade, not permitted to make those decisions, I had to figure out how I would explain this hatred to Naruto. An impossible task since hatred could never truly be explained, even when it was founded. I couldn't explain that.

So, what was left?

Diversion or denial.

The words came to me quickly and I said them without hesitation, almost as if I'd practiced them.

"Name one." I challenged, my voice monotone. I didn't look at Naruto, I just stared ahead and kept my teacup poised to my lips, hoping that this worked.

"What?" Naruto's mood changed from sadness to confusion as he blinked up at me owlishly.

"You said everyone hates you." I elaborated, still not looking at him though I could feel the weight of his stare burning into my cheek. Iruka was doing the same from where he sat on the boy's other side and I could sense how mystified he was. "Of that everyone who hates you...name one person."

"I-I don't know. I don't have names-" I didn't let him finish his sentence or argue with me.

"Do you think Lord Third hates you?" I interrupted and finally turned to look down at him.

"Well...no…"

"Do you think Iruka hates you?" I ignored the sound of surprise that came from the man's direction.

"No..."

"Mr. Ichiraku? What about him?"

"Definitely not!" The boy protested and I watched as he started to go red faced at my rapid-fire questioning. I saw Mr. Ichiraku crack a small smile from where he stood near the back of his shop, drying a plate.

"What about your classmates; like that Sakura girl you like so much?" Naruto blushed with embarrassment at the way I'd casually revealed his crush. He probably didn't realize I'd noticed his fascination with the young girl.

"Hey! Don't talk about Sakura in front of Iruka-sensei!" He whined but after a moment continued, "She's pretty grumpy but she doesn't hate me…" He was right - she was grumpy and a little abrasive but overall, she was a good kid. She didn't have it in her to hate anyone.

"What about me?" I questioned intently, raising a brow at him.

"No way!" He sounded horrified that I would even suggest that I could hate him. He was right...the thought was preposterous.

"If all your precious people like you," I began with a dry tone, "then why do you care about everyone? Whether they like you, or hate you, or don't even realize you exist...it shouldn't matter. They're nothing to you, Naruto."

I watched as he digested my words and while it didn't answer his question my statement seemed to have distracted him...at least for now. I knew that ignoring how many of the villagers felt would be hard for Naruto since above all he wanted to be acknowledged by everyone. After years of being ignored or hated. He wanted to be noticed and respected. I believed that someday his wish would come true but for now he just needed to survive his childhood.

The reminder that his precious people didn't hate him, that they liked him, seemed to be enough to satisfy the boy and soon his appetite had returned.

Five bowls of ramen later, it was as if the conversation had never happened.

XxX

I couldn't believe it. Tamaki had done it and it hadn't even been on purpose. She'd located the Sen Valley and it was right under our noses the entire time, literally. Tamaki had been helping the clerks in the archives re-organized some historical immigration records when she'd knocked into a shelf and took the entire thing down. Old records, some over a hundred years old, scattered everywhere and after being scolded for her clumsiness Tamaki had offered to stay late to clean it up.

About 8 o'clock, something had caught her eye. An old immigration record detailing the move of the Hanabachiro Clan to the Sen Valley. It hadn't made sense to her - if the land historically belonged to the Hanabachiro Clan why did they have immigration records? Why did we have immigration records of people coming to the Sen Valley in our archives in the first place? But she found more and more records, each detailing the immigration of entire clans to the Sen Valley. There were records for almost every founding clan of Konohagakure.

The date on all these documents? 1404...the year before Konohagakure no Sato was founded.

It could only mean one thing - The Sen Valley was Konohagakure.

Which meant that, while I didn't have any proof, either Lord Atsuhiko had lost his claim on the valley to the Senju Clan or he had chosen to sell it to them. I remembered from my history lessons that Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha had attempted to found Konohagakure for several years before it had become a hidden village.

In 1404, they had finally succeeded in recruiting the five original clans of Konoha - Senju, Uchiha, Hyuuga, Inuzuka and Nara. Then starting in 1405, they were gradually joined by the rest of the clans when they had demonstrated that the Senju and Uchiha could share the same territory without incident.

It was in 1405 that they had named the village so anything that had taken place before that was recorded under the name of the Sen Valley.

This was both helpful information and infuriating.

On one hand, the question as to where the Sen Valley was had been answered. On the other hand, that didn't answer the question as to where Lord Atsuhiko's personal documents were archived. Tamaki had just proven that it was possible for us to miss things by locating those old immigration records, but I had a gut feeling that we hadn't simply overlooked them. We would have found them by now. It had been months of searching and I'd even checked Lord Third's vault.

I toyed with the idea, yet again, that perhaps there weren't any records. Maybe they were lost to time but...something told me they still existed.

I was brought out of my thoughts by a knock on my office door and before I could answer, Kakashi strolled in. He dropped himself down into my guest chair like he belonged there and took out his smutty book, flipping to his saved page. I stared at him in silence for a long moment before I went back to my work without acknowledging him.

Kakashi had started doing this a lot and, shamefully, I was getting used to it. A lot of my work was confidential - I should have kicked him out - but he seemed to get comfort from just sitting with me in silence when he had nothing else to do. It had been over a month since the Lost Children Affair and Kakashi seemed to be on the mend, so I didn't want to deny him something if it was helping.

This was what friendship with Kakashi Hatake was like - just a lot of lazy days and comfortable silences, occasionally interrupted by intellectual conversation. I supposed it could be worse.

I was about to start on the Hyuuga Clan's requests for the month when I had an idea.

"Kakashi," I started and though he didn't look up I knew he was listening, "Did you ever hear about the Hanabachiro Clan?"

"Can't say I have." He responded with a bored tone, but despite his denial I was curious to see whether I could pick his brain. I'd come to learn that Kakashi was a sponge for information and sometimes he picked up things without realizing it. I'd once heard Genma complain that the man was a prodigy so maybe that had something to do with it.

"They're an extinct clan from before the turn of the century," I explained, "they used to own the land Konoha is on now. They primarily made their money exporting honey and vegetables to the warring clans in the area."

"Exporting honey?" Like I had hoped, something about what I said had stood out to Kakashi and he lowered his book slightly. Over the top of it, I could see his singular onyx eye gazing up at my ceiling in apparent thought while his free hand rose to rub his chin. "They're extinct you say?"

"Yes," I began cautiously, "I think they're extant through the female line but there's not a single Hanabachiro in this village right now."

"You know…" He trailed off briefly before he continued, "The Aburame Clan has been the only producers of honey in the village since 1414. While they don't connect with them the same way they do with beetles, they have a special bond with a rare type of bee only found here in Konoha. They don't use them for fighting...just for honey production. I wonder if the way they discovered these bees has anything to do with that clan you mentioned."

I pondered this for a moment. A special type of bee that wasn't used for fighting but was in the possession of the Aburame Clan? Which made them the only producer of honey in the village since shortly after the village's founding? Kakashi was right that there could be a connection between the two clans. If that was the case, maybe the Aburame Clan would know something about the Hanabachiro Clan...and perhaps where their documents had gone.

Luckily for me, I had the perfect job to ask the Aburame Clan Head all the questions I wanted.

Kakashi just stared at me mutely for a moment before he sighed and went back to his book, turning the page. I watched him for a few more minutes - he flipped several more pages before I decided to say something.

"Kakashi...don't you have somewhere else to be?" I specifically remembered he'd said he had a meeting with a mission team around noon today. It was now pushing 1 o'clock. He turned another page before looking upwards thoughtfully.

"Now that you mention it I think you're right." But instead of getting up to leave, he went back to his reading and turned another page.

XxX

I brought up the Hanabachiro Clan during my bi-monthly meeting with Shibi Aburame and for the first time I saw him look startled. As if he'd seen a ghost.

"No one has spoken of the Hanabachiro Clan in ages," The other man admitted, "I'm surprised you even know the name."

"Do you know anything about their clan?" I questioned, leaning forward in my seat.

"The Hanabachiro Clan was the reason my clan was able to immigrate to Konoha. We had no ties in the village like the other clans did, but we formed a marriage bond with the Hanabachiro and we were able to immigrate here in 1414." He explained, his posture as rigid as always. "Would you mind if I asked why you wanted to know about their clan?"

I didn't see much point in hiding my reasoning from the Aburame Clan head...especially not if he might know something.

"You may have heard that I'm attempting to change some of our village's more outdated laws." I began, watching for the clan heads reaction. He didn't give me one - just offered me a stoic nod. I took that as a good sign. "Through my research I've been led to believe that the last Hanabachiro Clan head, Lord Atsuhiko, may have retained some documentation that could benefit my stance on this issue. I've been looking for his vault."

"Yes, this land originally belonged to the Hanabachiro clan so it makes sense that the vault would be located somewhere here in Konoha. Your investigative skills are impressive, Miss Shiranui." Shibi wasn't a big talker, let alone someone who gave compliments, so I was beyond flattered at his praise.

"Well, am I right?" I returned.

"You are." Came Shibi's stiff response, "The vault itself was destroyed many years ago as the village expanded but the documents within were moved to the Aburame Clan vault."

I felt my heart flutter in my chest. I'd found it, the Hanabachiro Clan vault had been combined with the Aburame Clan vault, so it had been right under my nose the entire time. Now if only I could persuade Shibi to let me have access to it.

"You're welcome to come take a look sometime." Shibi Aburame continued without hesitation. It took me longer than it should have to realize what he had said - it had been completely unexpected. I had thought I would need to barter with him, or at least say something to win him over but the clan head had offered up his vault like it was a cup of sugar.

"Are you sure, sir?" I couldn't completely mask my disbelief at the situation.

"Of course," He responded simply, "I trust you."

I blinked slowly and thanked any god that would listen for the man's trust. I wasn't sure when I had earned it but it had turned into a blessing in disguise. After all this work, all these months, everything was finally falling into place.

XxX

As soon as I saw the Aburame Clan vault I figured that trust must be easier to give when your vault was a disorganized heap.

I had no doubt that Shibi probably hadn't been inside the vault over the last few years or maybe ever. There was no rhyme nor reason to the way the vault was organized and as I should have expected it was filled with beetles. The beetles thankfully weren't much of a problem as soon as I realized that they seemed to be smart enough to stay away from me. After a few minutes in the vault I was hard pressed to even see any. I'm sure there was likely one or two lurking in the rafters or under shelves, keeping an eye on me, but for the most part they were absent.

Despite the lack of organization, I found a box filled with old letters before the day was over. They weren't all from the right time period, nor were they written by the same hand, but among them there were several letters from Lord Second. I sat and stared at his penmanship in disbelief.

Months. Months.

All these months and finally I had them.

I was almost scared to read through them. After all this what if they didn't have the information I needed? What if they were just random letters from Lord Second? What if I ended up right back where I started...no further...because without this I would have no leads.

I sifted through a few of the letters, grabbing one of the earlier letters from 1401 even though I knew the year wasn't the one I was looking for. The village hadn't even been established back then.

Atsuhiko,

I was troubled to read about what transpired between yourself and the Hagoromo Clan. Rest assured this slight will not go unpunished - your clansmen will be avenged. As I write this Hashirama is readying a group to confront them. Those who dared to attack you, someone under the protection of the Senju, will die. They will be warned that should they continue their aggressions they will pay in the blood of their women and children.

There wasn't much else to the letter, just a signature, but it chilled me to the bone. It was hard to imagine Lord Second ordering the deaths of innocent women and children though I suppose it was a different time back then. I moved onto the next letter I'd found, bracing myself against the possibility of reading more cruel words.

Atsuhiko,

Your sister is a pest. Take her back.

That was all there was to the letter and the abruptness of it caused a sudden bark of laughter to spring from my lips. I looked around cautiously to make sure no one had witnessed it before returning to the letter. I tried to imagine the majestic Lord Second, hunched over a desk by candlelight penning a letter to a man he barely knew...to complain about a woman.

Finally deciding that all I was doing was being nosy, since I knew the years that were relevant to my search, I sifted through anything pre-1404 without reading them. Though one letter from 1402 caused me to pause briefly.

Atsuhiko,

I apologize that letters have been so scarce over the last few months. The Uchiha Clan has begun intercepting messages near our border, and we must be cautious.

Your sister has given me a son far earlier than anyone expected. We have named him Toshimitsu, for your father. It is my hope that when he hears this he will be delighted. Your father is a good man - better than me and my own father combined.

My son was born too early and he is small, but his spirit is strong - he has an indomitable will that he uses to keep the two of us up at night. I have not slept in weeks. I wanted to hire a wetnurse but Mitsuka would not have it. She insists that only she can nurse him. He grows stronger with each passing day as Mitsuka devotes all her love and time to him. I knew she was capable of the love, but I am surprised by the patience.

He was not breathing when he was born. Hashirama saved him with a new jutsu he had been developing. It heals like I have never seen. My brother has created something revolutionary. My father would have let him die - wanted to let him die - he tried to stop Hashirama from interfering. He said a child that could not breath its first breath alone was not capable of bearing the heavy burden of the Senju name. I asked him how many children he had let die, expecting him to be indignant, but he refused to answer.

Hashirama overheard my question, which I regret, and he seems to be haunted by my father's silence. I am not haunted, but I will never look at my father the same.

Mitsuka does not know what transpired that night so I ask that you keep this incident between us.

Enclosed is a letter from Mitsuka, she insisted on sending her own to you and her father. It is both a birth announcement and an invitation to my estate to celebrate Toshimitsu's birth. We chose April, travelling this winter would be too dangerous, and we can accommodate you both for the entire month.

It's three pages long so I'm sure it has more details then you need, and I wish you luck.

It was hard to picture Lord Second as a person, not just a historical figure, but here was the proof in carefully written characters. He had formed a friendship with his brother-in-law despite the underhanded circumstances that had caused his marriage and he even confided in him.

He felt anger, joy, and love. The way he spoke of his son, though stiff, made that abundantly clear.

It sounded like Lord Second's first-born son was premature and his birth was complicated - which was certainly interesting to note. I had a hard time stomaching what he had written about his father's reaction though. It was hard for me to imagine a world where strength was so vital that a man would insist that his grandson be left to die.

It was all intriguing but most historically relevant was the mention of Hashirama Senju's new healing jutsu. Toshimitsu, Lord Second's first born, seemed to have been the first ever recipient of the healing technique that eventually made the Senju Clan famous. It was quite the contrast - from a clan that let premature infants die on principal to a clan with the most powerful healing jutsu in history.

Fascinating but unfortunately not relevant to my search.

I continued sifting through the letters, trying not to read more than necessary but often my curiosity got the better of me. Atsuhiko, over the years, seemed to have become a close confidant of Lord Second's. I came across a few more letters about clan agreements, negotiations, and numerous announcements of births. I remembered the conversation I'd had with Lord Third several birth announcements later - the one where he'd told me that Lord Second had fathered eleven children. Lord Third had said that he had destroyed or locked away any evidence of Lord Second's nine daughters upon their request but clearly, he must not have known that these letters existed. Besides myself I don't think anyone knew about them.

It was no wonder he ended up with eleven children considering the man never seemed to get tired of them - he seemed to treat every birth like it was the first time. Every name was equally pretentious, every birth announcement equally overdone, every child equally unique or special - even the multiple sets of twins.

Except for a handful of letters from 1404 where he asked to buy the Sen Valley from Atsuhiko most were about his children.

According to the letters the Sen Valley was chosen because location would be perfect for founding a hidden ninja village - the first step towards peace between the warring clans in The Land of Fire. It took some time, but Atsuhiko was finally persuaded and sold the land to the Senju Clan under the condition that his own clan could continue to live there.

That ended up being irrelevant because in 1414 Hanabachiro Clan was absorbed into the Aburame Clan when Atsuhiko married one of his cousins to the clan head. With his responsibilities as clan head forfeit, Atsuhiko moved outside the village though where the letters weren't clear. At some point, however, his personal possessions must have made their way back to the village. I knew for a fact he hadn't died here, since I'd searched for the man's death records, so how his documents had been returned was a mystery.

My heart almost stopped when I found the information, I'd been looking for in a crinkled letter from 1418...the same year Lord Second was killed.

Atsuhiko,

Your sister is fine, the children are fine, the village and my clan are fine - or as fine as we can be while at war. I finally agreed to let Umeko marry that clanless boy she is so infatuated with and yes, you are invited to the wedding. No, we do not yet have a date. I have been too focused on this cursed war to plan a spoiled girl's wedding. You may be intrigued to know that Mitsuka and I have given them our wedding bands to convey our blessing.

But I will not waste your time further with pleasantries as I am sending this letter to seek your counsel.

The Nara Clan has developed a new powdered medicine for the kunoichi of my village. They claim that it will keep them from conceiving children for as long as they take it, that it will be good for the village and keep them in service longer. It will also prevent enemy bloodlines from entering the village accidentally.

It's an appealing thought, I have much to gain from allowing them to distribute this powder, but something is making me hesitate. How could something that does something so unnatural to the human body be healthy? I am having a hard time understanding it.

I asked them whether there were any risks to the women if they take this powder, but they could not give me an answer. Mitsuka has offered to try it as a test, since she is older now and already has children, but I will not accept the uncertainty. I have forbidden discussion on this topic in the house - I do not want the girls getting any ideas. They are too young, and it is not appropriate for us to discuss these things around them, let alone make them think they could disrupt nature's order without consequences.

Until the Nara can show me this powder is safe, I am not sure what path to follow.

Umeko yelled at me for the first time since she was a toddler and called me old fashioned over this. She said I was too old to keep up with the way the world was changing around me. Tell me, Atsuhiko, when did forty-five become old age? I want to argue with her, but I worry she is right - I may not be physically old but for the first time I feel old in spirit.

Tell me, brother, what do you make of this?

This was good - I was getting so close.

While this didn't prove why Lord Second made the decisions he did, it proved that most of his hesitance was caused by a lack of understanding and worry for the women of the village. He didn't seem able to comprehend that stopping a woman's cycle without hurting her was possible. It was an old-fashioned mindset by today's standards, but contrary to his eldest daughter's accusations, it was normal for the time. The Nara clan's contraceptive powder had been the first of its kind in The Land of Fire, so it would've been an entirely new concept.

The letter also claimed that the Nara couldn't prove that the contraceptive powder was safe to be used over longer periods of time. Without that proof...Lord Second had hesitated. Yuzuha had come up empty when she was searching their records so the powder hadn't been dangerous but that didn't mean Lord Second's fear had been unreasonable.

If only there was a letter that proved how Lord Second had finally made his decision…

I didn't need to look far because the next letter in the pile held my answers.

Atsuhiko,

I thought you may be interested to know that I have made a decision concerning that strange powder the Nara developed.

My decision has made me a pariah in my own home - Mitsuka I am sure will forgive me soon enough but Umeko is a grudge holder. Like her father. This war drags on and it reminds me that life is too short for a man's daughter to ignore him but there is little I can do.

The Nara said it would take them several years to determine whether the powder - contraceptive powder they call it - is dangerous or not. I have considered this along with the counsel of yourself and the men from my inner circle. Despite her accusations to the contrary, I have also listened to my daughter. I am not usually one to compromise. That was Hashirama's skill, not mine, but I have decided to try.

I will buy a contract with the Nara clan so the powder can only be sold to the village. It will be distributed by my office to kunoichi who already have children and are in service over the next ten years. The Nara will monitor the effects of the powder on these women and when we reconvene in ten years, we will decide whether it can be widely available. I believe this approach is fair.

I checked the date on the letter - June 14th, 1418.

This proved that Lord Second's restrictions on powder contraceptive had been only a temporary measure. Almost a month after this letter was written Lord Second had been killed and left the village in the hands of his successor - Hiruzen Sarutobi. Whether it was because he hadn't had the opportunity, or perhaps had just been confident that he would survive for ten more years, Lord Second hadn't left any formal documents regarding his plan. There was nothing to attest to what he had been thinking except for the two letters I had just found so his wishes had been lost to time.

I had done it.