A/N: just under 20k... goddamnit...

long story short: i hate holidays and i have a new personal challenge that, while keeping me motivated to write and giving me ideas or capable to vent everyday, has been taking up a lot of time and taken me to weird places (Tempered Fragments and its variants spawned from that) also Xenoblade Chronicles 2 sucked me and held me down with its clearly best pairing of uber yuri~ (Morag you are my woobie and deserve Nia!)

but yes... far too long... go read... i'm sick so i'mma go back to sleep...

Enjoy!

Yorihi swung her blade again, and again, and again. The satisfying Ting! As Suruyaku and Rokotsu met, the serrated Wakizashi in her own hand while the reverse blade katana was held in the hand of the beguiling neko version of herself as Bachiko stood in for her sparring partner, did nothing to quell the rampaging feelings bubbling underneath her skin.

She wanted to be done with this place.

Three weeks and things just seemed to get worse and worse. As if her own feelings about the place weren't bad enough, everything else… everything else that came at her, assaulted her mentally… reminders, flashes, things that just put her on edge… small truces made in the moment to get out of a situation blooming into longer obligations than necessary, the social navigating of dealing with another culture so backwards and riddled with booby-traps was nauseating.

In her time with Company 5 her missions lasted less than two weeks, including travel time. It took that long to find the objective, hunt them down and capture them, then back to Kumo for processing. On her first mission, even back in Company H, she found it was easier to get a willing participant to follow then someone forced. It was only now she wondered if it was because of this place that she did that…

She held out her hand to the last of bloodlines, slaves, the downtrodden and mostly forgotten and offered them something different. Most jumped at her offer, just to get away, to go away from where they were to be someone else, just for a moment, and forget. Those that came willingly Kumo hadn't had a problem with. They knew they couldn't speak to her if they met again, and most wouldn't even recognize her, but from reports she knew they were doing well…

The few times that didn't happen she either killed her target and brought back a corpse, or overpowered her target and stole them away to be buried in R&D. She didn't particularly feel one way or the other about them, they made their choice, they chose to be her enemy and she got her job done.

But here…

Retrieval in a major village was suicide. If that Fox had taught her anything it was that, which was why most of her targets were from outlying villages and likely destitute. She knew other bloodhunters went to far off places and even major villages, but her missions had been fairly local by comparison, and much easier. They went where they were needed, she was just being used as a trial run and hadn't experienced the true gravity of what their missions entailed.

That Fox had wanted her to test herself in new territory but she was starting to feel she wasn't up for this. Konoha was too advanced for her right now… especially with everything else she was dealing with.

Her primary objective here was to keep Xiao and Oku safe and to help them get through the exams. Her secondary objective was to scout out the place, build connections and find targets. Tertiary was actual capture.

The longer their stay here was drawn out the less confident she felt in being able to achieve her third objective, especially without starting a war.

Konoha and Kumo had always been hostile, but over the past weeks things had seemingly escalated. Going into the exam she had been focused on gathering information and being the vanguard for her team, being the one any other threats would focus on so her teammates would be ignored. If people attacked her alone she could handle it, if they attacked her teammates she would fail her primary objective here.

Coming out of the second exam it seemed as if the general paranoia and tension of the place had increased. It made sense the Hokage would drop pretense and 'reveal' to the genin the reality they were going to face, but his open hostility and singling out of her team was more threat than she liked. She hadn't responded well, she knew that…

Her attempts to placate the observers with a show of comradery and defense to 'comrades in battle' after the preliminaries seemed to not have any kind of lasting effect. At least, not for anyone that wasn't the other genin.

The Hokage's edict of a 'cultural exchange' was practically insulting. Even if it was sincere, she had little reason to pay it any mind. Xiao and Oku found it useful in biding their time until the finals, she had… stumbled into an arrangement because of it. It still felt like a trap…

She still shivered at the idea of facing Orochimaru. This was meant to just be a test of their ability, a chance to size up the other countries and intimidate enemies… instead she felt like her team had stumbled into the crossfire of something they had no idea about. Why a banished Sannin bent on destroying this village was here, why he attacked a team of genin, why he didn't just kill them? Why he didn't just kill her when the chance presented itself…

There were too many things she just didn't know or understand, both tactically in this situation and personally when dealing with the day to day interactions around her.

Two weeks is a short time to deal with a single situation, especially when you save someone from death and they're literally willing to do anything to escape their situation. Most of her missions prior she had them done within the week and was back to training waiting for her next one without a second thought.

She wasn't a very good leader if all of her decisions just resulted in more complications and her best way of dealing with them was with aggressive force or polite deference.

"I said what was necessary for them to agree…"

Had it been anyone else that said that she would have hit them. At least that's how she felt about the situation.

She had been doubting her capabilities as a leader when her best actions lately had simply been keeping an eye on her team, trying to not start anything else and wait out this proceeding the best she could. For a moment she had been relieved to have her Teacher back and the prospect of simply following orders again, to learn how to do this better…

Yorihi didn't doubt Kemui's leadership ability, the woman tended to take command wherever she went and most people were too terrified of her to argue. But the young blind girl wasn't most people, she was her Father's daughter, she wasn't going to let anything the Assassin did that bothered her go without question and a show of obvious distaste.

On a logical standpoint, she understood the situation her Teacher was put in, making something work when everyone around her clearly wanted them gone and weren't willing to live up to their own words. These political games Konoha played were revolting and she shuddered to think what her Father must put up with when dealing with civilians from the capital of Rai no Kuni.

But she wasn't out here, crossing blades with her feline familiar in a stolen form because of logic. Dealing with the Hyuuga, just facing them… ALL of them… Neji had been hard enough to contain her innate fury at their existence, that reminder that threatened her entire identity, but to look at them all… to even remotely think… to consider…

The fury and abandon that welled up in her, had Yugito not held her back she truly did not know what she would have done. Looking back she swore it was anger, disgust, something strong like that… but then Bachiko would swat the sword out of her hand and glare at her with those vibrant blue slitted eyes of his on her face and she knew that wasn't true…

She was lying to herself, she had been terrified.

If she had learned anything from her time in Kumo, it was to lash out when afraid. It was the only way to both try and quell that terror and to hide it. Rarely did it work, but it got other's to look away at least…

She gripped Suruyaku in both hands, willing the shaking to stop as she struck back at the ghostly feline in his transformed body.

Battle was the only time she didn't have to think about such things, where she let them go and they could be gone forever… mostly.

She hated the Hyuuga and didn't want to deal with them, but she did because her Teacher needed her to and the situation forced it. She was upset with what Kemui said but it was done, there was nothing more she could do about it. All this impotent rage, she just needed to get rid of it and focus on the task at hand…

"She didn't mean it," a voice called out from the side of the field she was training on, Nii Yugito making her presence known as the blonde woman watched her temporary student recklessly fight with her familiar, arms crossed and face flat, "You know that, right?"

"I know," Yorihi growled, falling back a step raising her blade to meet Bachiko's overhead swipe.

"She would never truly say such a thing about your…" there was a distinctly harsh growl from the young girl as she parried a combo from the catlike version of herself, breaking its guard and shouldering him out of the way. Yugito winced, correcting herself, "About the Raikage, he's too important for her to so blatantly sell out like that…"

"Believe me," the blind girl's voice was a bit of a growl as she moved to disarm her opponent, roll him over her shoulder and point both blades at his throat, "I know."

For his worth, Bachiko just snorted at his master and waited for her to offer a hand to help him up. This form was still quite awkward for him, the proportions and weight in all the wrong places to properly fight. At least that was his excuse.

Iron black eyes just stared at the girl, shaking her head, "If you know so well, why are you so upset by what she said?"

Yorihi's shoulders slumped as she faced away from her Aunt, handing Bachiko the sword he was using before, "It's not what she said, but who…" there was an undercurrent to the young girl's voice, as if a further inference that only those that understood could hear.

"The Raikage… or the Hyuuga?" the catlike woman asked flatly.

The blind girl's grip tightened on her sword, "Why did it have to be him," her voice dipped, almost growling, "Why that clan… why did she have to say such things to them."

There was a bit of sympathy the older woman felt for the younger girl. She knew full well what it was like to have her 'opinions' ignored by the Assassin, "It's how things fell, it was her mission after all…"

"Tch," Yorihi just ignored such a response, taking on a left handed stance as she faced off against her opponent. The human-formed cat merely shrugging.

"Jeez," a pale hand ran through the woman's blonde hair, "The both of you, can be so stubborn but get so worked up over one or two words," iron black eyes glared at the blind girl fighting her catlike doppelganger, "the least either of you could do is act like the adult's you're supposed to be and save all this bullshit for when we're back home. It doesn't do any of us any good to be questioning command when we're in hostile territory…"

There was a loud ping! As Yorihi knocked the reverse blade katana out of Bachiko's hand and held the point of her serrated Wakizashi at his throat, "Why do you think I'm out here?"

Bachiko just held up his feminine hands in defeat and shrugged, a shadow of blue black flames enveloping his form a moment and once they disappeared gone was the catlike doppelgänger of Yorihi, now only the blue black twin tailed tabby who indignantly licked his paw.

Cyan brows lowered over the insignia of Kumo as the blind girl flicked her blade and sheathed it, "Oh quit your whining…" vibrant blue eyes glared at her as she went to retrieve her other sword.

"Excuse me?" iron black eyes glared at the younger girl.

"I was saying that to Bachi-chan, Nee-chan," Yorihi sheathed her reverse blade katana before turning to her Aunt. She wasn't sure what to say to the woman, wasn't even really sure why she was here other than to keep an eye on her when all Yorihi could think was that the blonde Jounin's skills would have been better served looking after their 'commander'.

Yugito kept her scowling look on the girl.

Yorihi nervously faced away from her Aunt, unconsciously tapping the handle of one of her swords, "You should be looking after her…"

"Tch," the blonde rolled her eyes, one hand on her hip and looking the other way, "I'm sure she can handle herself…" –Not to mention her all but telling me to get lost…- in their time training together, Yugito liked to think she'd learned to translate some of the silent communication the Assassin employed.

Cyan tattooed brows furrowed as the blind girl turned on the jounin, "No, she can't." she spoke firmly, now gripping her blade, "Normally, yes, I'd trust Kemui-sama to take care of herself, but now?" her jaw clinched a moment, recalling the small limp the woman showed, "You should be watching her, not me…"

At the girl's firm voice, Yugito had to turn and look at her. –For a second it sounded like the Raikage was giving me an order- Yorihi's voice hadn't suddenly changed to her father's, but the way the young girl spoke… it was firm, unwavering, confident, like how a superior spoke to a subordinate. Yugito had heard the girl speak to her own students as such, but never had she sounded like that to her, it was momentarily jarring, "Yorihi…" the blonde woman shook her head, shaking the spell of that voice off, "You know she would have me watch you over her any day…"

"And that's why she needs it, because she won't accept or request anyone else's help, it needs to be forced on her." Those tattooed brows furrowed more, the girl's face tightening, she would not budge on this matter.

Whatever Yugito had to say in response was abandoned as a body crashed out of the woods, rolling towards the two Kumo-nin.

Both recognized her at the same time, but Yorihi was the one to speak, "Karin!?"

The redhead stumbled and rolled towards them, losing her footing in her haste, but Yugito quickly caught the girl, holding her up and putting the shaking former-Kusa-nin on her feet. Karin took a second to catch her breath and fix her glasses before facing the two with frantic eyes, "That… that wolf woman… she needs… she's going to be attacked!"

The two Kumo-nin grew serious, Yorihi facing the jounin, "I told you."

Yugito ignored the girl, turning Karin to face her, "Were you followed?"

Immediately the glasses wearing girl shook her head, "At first, s-someone was tailing me, b-but I lost them halfway here!"

"Your technique?" when the girl gave a vigorous nod, the blonde jounin nodded in return, "Good, can you still use it?" another affirmative nod, "Go find Xiao and Oku, Yorihi and I will assist our commander," iron black eyes turned to the blind girl who only gave a firm nod.

A moment later the area was empty.

Grey eyes slowly opened as Kemui stared in front of her. The pain in her arm and leg had increased, without Xiao present the effects of the drugs had worn off and she was battling the aggravated pain on pure willpower alone. It took everything in her to not show the strain on her face or grab at her wounds.

The girl, Karin, who had been left in the room to be safe was watching her from the corner. The girl was terrified of her, and after their discussion when Kemui first entered it made sense. The girl saw the world through the way she interpreted Chakra, it made her perspective unique and highly valuable.

"You're a wolf…" Kemui had often been compared to such a creature but never had she been directly called one in such a way. Though that wasn't what Karin meant as the girl further explained, she felt Kemui the same way primitive farmers felt immense fear for the woodland predators that hunted their flocks, and them. It took everything the girl had to remain in the same room as the woman and that was saying quite a lot. Primitive fear was not something easily fought.

There was a dark chill that ran down Kemui's spine, only one thing could override her intense sense of pain at this point. –A threat- her sharp bladed eyes turned to the red haired girl and she could tell by how she huddled in on herself that she felt it too. –Good- she was proving herself a useful find, "Karin," the strong woman's voice garnered the girl's attention, "Go find Xiao-chan, please…" her words were spoken softly and delicately, but by the way the foreign girl ran from the room without so much as a nod one would think Kemui had physically struck her.

No matter, she was gone. They were alone.

The second the door closed he appeared. For only a moment Kemui had blinked and the old man seemed to slink out of the shadows, avoiding all of Oku's hard made traps and stood before the wounded woman seated on the bed.

"Shimura Danzo," she spoke calmly, looking over the man. His right arm and eye were bandaged, he walked with a cane in his left hand. The look, along with the X scar on his chin, seemed to hint at old wounds that never healed and limp leaving him incapable. If his hair weren't still black it'd have been easy to call him an old man, having a bit of a stern and grumpy face. If she had to compare him to the Hokage, he was the grandfather children didn't like. The insolent thought brought a small smile to the edge of her lips.

"Hmp," he lived up to that sour look, "I can't say I have the pleasure of your name," his uncovered black eye opened, staring at the woman seated and in obvious pain, "All I have is your alias from the last time you were here, Ryougi-san."

The small smile became tight, she didn't have the energy or reason to deny the claim. This man knew the truth of the matter, just as she did, "I believe she married into the Uchiha and died with them, Shimura-san," her words were soft as silk as she closed her left eye, looking at the man in the only safe way she knew possible, "I'm just an emissary of my Lord, the Raikage, nothing more…"

"Play your games, Assassin," he took a step forward, "ply your tricks, they won't work on me," a rough hand raised with the black cane in his hand, "I was on to you then, as I am on to you now."

"Heh, I see," she slumped a little in her seat, the pain in her arm and leg increasing and she saw no use to hide it. He knew she was injured, he wouldn't be here unless he was absolutely certain he could destroy her, "And what business has brought the infamous Shimura Danzo to me, a lowly assassin," her right eye glared as harshly as she could manage, "If you wish to kill or capture me I dare you to try…"

"In time," the man tapped his cane on the ground, "I've come to ask you a few things first," that cane shot out, under Kemui's chin and pushing it up so she was looking him eye to eye in an instant, "Starting with where that bastard son of yours is…?"

A flash of anger raced across the white woman's brow, her sole open eye glaring but overall she kept the feeling contained, "Haven't you heard? He died with the rest of the Uchiha…"

Danzo's black brow furrowed, "You don't seem to be affected, hmm…" his cane moved back to his side, letting her go.

That unnatural grey eye kept glaring, "This eye isn't affected by whatever genjutsu you normally employ to get information out of your prey…"

"Hm," the old man seemed to nod in approval, "A false eye, to see the truth I take it?" when no answer was forthcoming he smirked, "I always admired that Kumo spirit, the willingness to augment one's body for the betterment of combat."

A slight frown appeared on the pale woman's face, "Why are you here, Shimura-san?"

A slight edge rose on the old man's lips, "To interrogate a traitor, of course." There was almost a full blown grin on the man's face, as close as he'd ever come to one at least, "A former member of the Uchiha clan is after all, a member of Konoha, no matter how you started."

"I never joined the Uchiha," was Kemui's blunt statement, "You seem to have mistaken me for someone else."

"Hmp," a tap of his cane on the ground, "Play up the lie however you want, mission or not you were a member of this Village, which gives me legal rights to toy with you how I see fit."

"Always so kind to your subordinates?" there was dry sarcasm in her voice and no mirth on her face.

"If you were one of mine I'd have taken that tongue of yours for insubordination and simply had one of my Yamanaka rip all the information I wanted from your mind," his hand tightened on his cane and for a moment he looked almost angry, "I was impressed with your seamless infiltration, that fool Sarutobi wouldn't allow me to take you in and… teach you properly."

"Such a generous offer." Kemui cringed, pushing it down as much as possible, her right hand making a fist, the pain a searing hot fire that took hold a moment. Her fake eye remained on the black haired man, keeping him within sight at all times and not caring that he saw her pain. A defiant smirk rose on her sharp features, "It must have really irked you," her voice caught as her arm seized, "Having to stand there, knowing the truth, while he ignored you, pushing your concerns aside as if simple paranoia…"

The man's one visible eye narrowed, his grimace flattening. It was a threat and would terrify any other, "You are quite mouthy," the cane was out, back under the woman's chin pushing it up, "How I would enjoy breaking that quality in you…"

"Heh," despite the uncomfortable position, Kemui laughed. She just looked the man in the eye and genuinely laughed at him, "Is that what you 'enjoy'?" the laughter lowered as her fake eye became sharper, "Or is that what is expected of you?"

That sharp narrow black eye just glared at her, moving the cane from her throat, which annoyed him greatly, to rest on the inside of her right arm, the underside of her armguard that wasn't metal.

Their eyes never moved from one another, as if that grey eye was taunting him to do it…

With a swift jerk he pressed on the wound. The pale woman didn't jerk, didn't move, but there was the smallest twitch around her open eye, more visible on her closed one. She kept her gaze on him, daring and defiant.

"You do not scare easily," he pressed the wound harder, a perverse curiosity on how much he would have to break her to get some kind of reaction.

Kemui's jaw clinched for a moment but she kept the pain as much off her face as possible, "Did you expect something easy?"

"Hmm…" Danzo removed his cane, setting it down in its regular position, "No, I did not."

Despite the relief, without the biting pain focusing her she actually settled down a bit more, "Did the Hokage send you?"

"Hmp," the old man grunted, if Kemui could read his face she would almost call it annoyance, "He still believes your team's presence here is a precursor for an invasion and is trying to prevent it at any cost," that bandaged head shook, "He's wasting his time, using politics to try and dissuade you. If the Hyuuga are any indication, you are not a woman that can be talked to or politically maneuvered around."

A pained smirk rose on the pale woman's face, "Is that a compliment?"

"An observation," he tapped his cane on the ground, watching the woman, "Now, enough idle chatter, where is the boy?"

That grey eye just stared ahead, the woman's face neutral, "There's something I've always tried to figure out but could never make sense of…"

"The boy…" Danzo persisted, ignoring the woman's yammering's, knowing if he let her get her way she could talk circles all day.

It seemed she was going to play the same game, staring at him as her head tilted just the slightest, ignoring his words, "Why do you let the Hokage dictate what you can and cannot do?" her head tilted to the other side when no obvious response was given, "For what it's worth, you are far more feared in other nations than him, though I suppose that's due to his more recent beneficent persona compared to before…" momentarily her eye closed and she sighed, "How easily people forget…"

"Your son, Ryougi, the Uchiha bastard you whelped," that cane was out and threatening again, under her chin forcing her eye open and to face him, "Where is he?"

"Tell me," That unnatural grey eye opened, looking deeply at the man in front of her, "Shimura-san, what's it like serving a man that you give everything for and all he gives in return is blame for all the wrongs he's done?"

The man's black eye narrowed, "If you don't tell me something I want to hear I will have my forces find those genin and make them talk…"

Her grey eye narrowed, "What's all this for? Ashamed your own scheme was outdone by a single woman in less than a year?"

His grip tightened on his cane, "You were efficient, calculated and exploited a weakness no man can turn down…"

"No man but you?" a slight sinister curl rose on the woman's lip, "Or is that just what you like others to think…" a glint in her unnatural eye, "That strong will, the dark façade, never to be tempted by the weaknesses of men…"

That black eye narrowed on the woman.

She smirked, raising her eye with an implication only he could read, "You do want to kill the Hokage, don't you?"

Danzo shot forward, gone was the façade of a broken old man as his good arm dropped the cane and lunged for the woman's throat. There was no resistance, a slight shift of discomfort from the wounded woman but even when she was slammed into the concrete wall by the neck that unnatural grey eye of hers didn't flinch.

"Did I touch a nerve?" her face was placid, unnerving.

The black haired man's lip twitched down and his fingers clinched slightly, "You have no idea what you speak of."

"Don't I?" the woman gave a dry laugh, knowing something he clearly didn't, speaking of experience he should understand.

His hand tightened, his eye glaring at the cocky woman.

"Do it," her smile disappeared, that grey eye looking directly into his, "I told you, I dare you to kill me…"

A real grimace spread on the man's half covered face, "I'll kill you when I have no more use of you," his hand gripped tighter, feeling as she tried to swallow but couldn't, "For now I want information, I can find out, and I will, but for now that is the only reason you are still breathing…"

There was some crack in her voice, like she was trying to laugh, "Is that… what you're… going to tell him… when you kill him?"

It took a lot of effort for Danzo not to snarl at the woman, "What I do, I do for the benefit of Konoha…"

"Is that why…" she breathed in painfully, keeping that eye contact, "You took that spy?"

"That is none of your concern," The man's monotone wasn't enough to cover up the harshness deep in his throat, "When this is over and I snap your neck, I will have my forces go find that Hyuuga your village likes to parade around and have her brought under my heel…"

Suddenly the woman's left eye was open, a light sheen at the edge making it seem brighter than her unnatural one as she openly snarled at the man, "You will be dead before you have a chance to touch her."

Whatever Danzo's response was going to be was abandoned, as his hidden Sharingan eye saw the knife coming in on his supposed blind spot.

Reacting quickly Danzo leaned back, the wrap around his face being sliced as he threw the woman and jumped back, frowning and glaring at her with one black eye and one red one, "You shouldn't have done that…"

There was a flat laugh as the woman pushed herself up with her knife hand, reaching towards her discarded mask with her wounded, and now bleeding, right hand, "So that's the secret…" there was blood on the mask of a wounded white wolf as it came over the woman's face. The laughter stopped, the pain and noise stopped, as she stood on her feet and faced him, "A carrion bird, scavenging for parts?"

"Hmp," his true eye narrowed as he stood up, having retrieved his cane and brandishing it in his hand like a weapon, "So, a fight, is it?"

What stood before him was not the woman from a moment ago. Gone was the pain, the snide remarks and insinuations. This beast just growled, standing firm on its legs, a knife in a reverse grip in its left hand and the right in a bloody fist, as it stood as intimidatingly as possible.

Danzo couldn't say he didn't expect this, in fact some old part of him that longed for the days of warfare relished the idea, "I see," he nodded, glaring at that mask with his stolen right eye, "Too bad, we could have helped each other…"

Her voice was a growl, reverberating behind that mask, "I don't care about whatever civil war is taking place here," for some reason she raised her wounded hand, opening and flexing the fingers to resemble claws, "Leave us out of it!"

"Even if you could benefit from it as well," despite the snarl of a response, Danzo couldn't help the slight sinister smirk picking at his lips, "So be it…"

The man moved forward…

Kemui didn't wait.

One second the blood stained white wolf was facing the man down, the next she was behind him with a bloody knife.

A red seam spread along Danzo's throat and his eyes widened in horror, his Sharingan spinning wildly…

Then his body seemed to turn black, disintegrating into ash that disappeared, and in front of Kemui the man appeared, glaring with his Sharingan eye.

"That's an interesting technique you have," the old man moved his mobile hand, revealing under his outer kimono his right arm that was wrapped in bandages, "I didn't think I would actually have to use this so soon," pulling some of the bandages off he revealed the back of his right hand which was a disturbing white color with a red eye in the center of it, closing. "Thank you for not disappointing."

The white mask glared, getting a good look at his new arm with her fake eye, knowing if nothing else came of this encounter, Kumo would know the danger this man posed, "That wasn't a clone or a substitution…" lowering her stance, tensing her body, Kemui didn't know if she could use Yoen-Po effectively again, the pain was already spreading throughout her body.

"Fascinating things, these Sharingan," Danzo pushed the bandages up his arm, revealing at least three more eyes on his forearm, "So much potential and ability in them, yet the Uchiha were nothing but cavemen swinging around a sword in its scabbard like a club…"

"And you have the true mind to use their bloodline limit properly, is that it?" She needed to keep him in sight, watch his movements, anticipate what he was going to do next…

"Among other things," he smirked, lowering his hand and stood comfortably, hoping to intimidate the woman, "The fools thought they could kill the current Hokage and get away with it…"

"And only you are allowed to do that?" she took a step back, keeping him in sight.

"Hmp," Danzo glared at her, his Sharingan spinning, "You can't escape and you can't kill me."

"I can try," this time when the woman disappeared and reappeared behind him his false arm was severed… but still the body turned black, disintegrating into ash, "Tch." She growled when her body collapsed as she went to one knee. –I still haven't recovered from last night…- it was no longer just the pain in her leg and arm; that pins and needles pain was spreading throughout her body. The Assassin's technique was not meant to be used consecutively like this…

"Already giving up?" the amalgamated man stepped menacingly towards her, holding his cane in his able hand and drawing out a hidden blade from the top with his stolen arm.

Kemui watched him carefully. A second eye was closing on his wrist.

Danzo held the sword up to his mouth, without any signs he spewed out a large amount of chakra onto the blade, coating it in wind chakra, then pointed it at her, "You're not getting away from this fight so easily."

Kemui slowly pushed herself up, gripping her knife in front of her as a weak defense, knowing just how effective wind chakra was. She placed her bleeding hand on the wall behind her for support, "Don't make threats you can't uphold…"

With a frown Danzo stepped closer and swung his blade, intent to cut the woman in half.

Kemui just smirked behind her mask…

… Activating the trap seals on the wall behind her.

"Xiao-chan," the silly hat wearing shinobi suddenly stopped in his tracks, calling to his partner.

"Oku?" red eyes tuned back to the boy. They had been walking through the training ground, not sure what to do; to wait for Naruto or return to their temporary dwelling. Xiao was still agitated from last night but where before it was a raging boil now she was at a low simmer.

Oku had raised his left hand, pulling down the wrapping on his wrist and staring at it. There was a seal there, a triangle design seemed to be flashing and the look on his face became grim, "Someone is activating my seals…"

That got Xiao's attention, "How many? Can you tell?"

The dirty blonde boy shook his head, "No, they're not tripping them…" his brows lowered, furrowing as he considered what this reading meant, "Someone is actively setting them off…"

Dusky pink brows furrowed, "Who would do that?"

The boy only shook his head, his indicator couldn't tell him that kind of information, "We should head back, someone might be using them as a signal for help."

Xiao just firmly nodded, trusting her partner's assessment.

Both quickly took off, unsure of what they'd find when they got to their destination.

-The tilt of the blade, will it go up or down?-

In battle it is usually an instant, too fast for true thought and only instinct could save one's head, even more so if luck was enough on your side to tilt the enemy's weapon how you wanted.

If Danzo's blade had gone up, it could have taken her head, or slit her throat. This is why blades had guards, in a clash it prevented the enemy's blade from going up, but an assassin's blade, as a necessity for stealth and to hide the weapon, making it unassuming, tended to not have guards. A sacrifice of defense for the kill.

There was only a small lip, where the blade was placed in the handle that could serve as a marginal defense, everything else was based on luck and some degree of skill. Skill in knowing how your body moved, skill in knowing how your opponent will move, skill in knowing the flaw in your own defenses, weaknesses and how to exploit them to your own means.

Wind chakra cuts through anything, but Kemui's knife ate any chakra given it ravenously, momentarily giving it the same element or nature of what it absorbs if enough. The lack of guard makes the knife quick, the soft handle easy to use and maneuver, the double edge made it easy to cut either way…

There was another usefulness to the feature of not having a guard on a bladed weapon; one's opponent couldn't tell just by looking if you rolled the blade just slightly.

As Kemui's knife blocked Danzo's katana it ate the wind chakra, preventing his weapon from cutting it in half. As her hand smeared blood on Oku's seals, she rolled her wrist, forcing the met blades to twist. As the spikes shot out of the wall her body jerked back into them, forcing his blade to slip and his body to come forward into the attack.

Once more it disappeared into black ash and she was up the wall and on the ceiling descending onto his next incarnation before it fully formed.

Blocking he forced her off with pure strength. She activated another seal when she landed on the wall, summoning a mesh of razor wires to spring from both sides forming a tight net that cut the room in half.

On his side, Danzo cut the net with his vacuum infused katana, ignoring any cuts that may have appeared, half turning in time with another strike from the Assassin.

Dodging a strike, deflecting a quick parry, Kemui dropped to the ground, rolled under one of the beds and quickly kicked the whole thing at the Konoha elder. Again he sliced it in half without trying, only for another seal to be activated, releasing a wave of bladed chains from the walls.

It took more effort for Danzo to dodge this one, losing most of his hanging garments in the process.

Meanwhile Kemui used the distraction to get to the far end, by the door…

The blood stained white wolf mask only had a moment to look up as the man's true hand grabbed onto her face as she clung to the area above the door and placed her bloody palm on the seal…

Blades of all manner shot out of the walls, along with poisoned darts and earth projections.

The second Danzo's hand left her mask she activated her family's technique and while to the man it appeared she disappeared, she was once again on the back wall, by the window sill. She watched his body form into black ash as the short hallway became a cacophony of blades, earth and wire…

She triggered the final seal as he rematerialized in front of her, his sword coming down on her shoulder.

Running across town wasn't much of a problem for Naruto, he was a ninja after all!

Though he may have slowed down a bit once he hit the city limits, thoughts piling up about what Xiao had said.

"I can't say anything about tomorrow, about what happens when we leave here, when these Exams are over and the normal rules apply again… But for now, we're not direct enemies."

Naruto put his hands in his pockets as he walked along the streets of Konoha. This was his Village, his home, it was all he'd ever known.

Everyone here said Konoha was the greatest Village, from the old man to bratty little kids like Konohamaru.

The only person that ever showed him anything else was Katsu-chan. If it weren't for her he probably would have been completely ignorant of foreigners, of foreign ideas. Sure, he was still from Konoha, still put Konoha before anything else, but because of her his main goal had shifted from wanting to be the best in Konoha, being the Hokage, to being the best in the WORLD.

He wanted to make everything good and fair like Konoha, like he thought it was.

But then she died… at the hands of his big brother, Itachi.

At least, that's what everyone in Konoha had said happened. Not that anyone seemed to really care that a foreign woman who associated with him got killed by a crazy clan killer.

Even Sasuke wouldn't talk to him about it, despite them both losing people in the Massacre.

The one time he brought up Itachi with his then-schoolmate, how he wanted to find Itachi and find out the truth of what happened, Sasuke just beat him up, yelling about how he was going to kill his brother, for his parents and clan.

It was the only time Naruto had seen Sasuke totally lose it… at least until last night. The way the guy was acting, fighting Kakashi-sensei wasn't normal, but it reminded him of that day at school sometime after the Massacre. All Naruto had wanted was an answer, what happened, why it happened, why his big bro would do that to his big sis… instead he got a face full of bruises and everyone calling him an idiot for even caring.

So he hid that desire, it was still there, something he knew he'd have to face before he could ever become the Greatest Shinobi Ever! But clearly no one else wanted to hear it…

So yea, because of that, because of Katsu-chan, because of his worldly ideals, he wanted to talk to the foreigners. Get to know people from the same country as a woman that was nice to him.

He never thought about how everyone else would look at it…

"But for now, we're not direct enemies."

-Why we gotta be enemies to begin with?- it never crossed his mind to think of the Kumo-nin as his enemies. They were foreigners, so what? They were here to compete like everyone else. They were rivals, people that were loud, blunt, pumped and ready for any fight coming their way. They were awesome!

… and they were scary. The more he hung out with them, the more he saw the world they lived in, the harsh realities he never was exposed to, never thought about thanks to generally growing up in a fairly cushy life in Konoha.

People didn't like him, they didn't talk to him, and didn't let him buy new stuff. They could be crass, rough to him at times, but mostly they just ignored him. The worst was everyone in class laughed at him… not that he wasn't asking for it with his pranks, but…

And Mizuki.

Hanging out with the Kumo-nin… for a bit, he felt… normal.

Unconsciously Naruto held the fabric of his jacket around his stomach. They knew about this stupid Fox… and they didn't care. They'd known somehow when they met him, but it never affected how they saw him. They saw Naruto, not the Kyuubi, from day one.

Other than Katsu-chan, Naruto couldn't say he knew anyone in the Village that truly saw him first…

"… enemy shinobi like you."

So to hear that, to be called an enemy by someone that saw him as Naruto first… it hurt a lot more than he thought it would. It was like a slap in the face but somehow more painful than Sakura's punches.

The thoughts circled around his mind all the way to Sakura's place. They wouldn't let him go and he had no real counter to them. Sure, there was what Xiao told him but he could see it, the tight way the red eyed medic had smiled. It was for him, she wasn't necessarily lying, but it wasn't really the truth either.

He didn't know what to do with this middle ground philosophy.

But it wasn't what he was supposed to be dealing with now anyway. Pushing the thoughts to the side, Naruto had knocked on Sakura's parents' door. Immediately her mom answered, but upon seeing him scowled.

Again, someone that didn't see him.

Naruto just put on his best smile, covering up he even noticed the scowl on the woman's face, "Hey, Sakura-chan's mom, I was hoping to see if Sakura-chan was around for training, since she didn't show up today?"

"She's not feeling well," the woman curtly spoke, halfway behind the door, blocking the entrance to her home in a clearly defensive way.

"Oh?" Naruto moved to scratch the side of his head, concerned for his teammate, "Well, mind if I see her? See if she needs anything? She up in her room, or did you take her to the doctor's? dattebayou?"

The woman just scowled down her nose with green eyes, closing the door more, "She's resting. She does not need any disruptions, just rest." And without further ado the woman closed the door right in Naruto's face.

A fox-faced scowl passed over Naruto's face as he continued to scratch his blonde head, "Thanks for the help lady…" immediately a serious look passed the boy's whiskered face as he put his ear to the front door. He could make out the sounds of someone walking around, upstairs and away from the door.

-She's probably going to check on Sakura-chan…- pulling away from the door, Naruto looked up at the building. It was a typical stucco two-story townhouse like a lot of the other residential buildings on this street.

Hopping up the side of the building, Naruto found Sakura's room easy enough. She mentioned a few times it had a balcony… and he may have followed her around a bit as a little kid until Katsu-chan gave him a stern talking to about stalking girls.

Taking a seat on the balcony, on a spot below her window but hidden from the door he listened in and waited as her mom tended to her. Mentioning stuff about a fever and still being asleep.

–Hope Sakura-chan's alright…- Naruto didn't recall her being sick recently… but then again he hadn't really been training with his team lately. Between his morning routine with Tenten and getting some afternoon stuff with Kakashi, he hadn't really had the chance to check on his team as much as he'd like. Most of the time he would just wonder by their training ground… and enjoy watching as Xi-nee beat Sasuke-teme into the ground. When he tried to sneak up on Oku's training sessions with Sakura he usually wound up with a kunai in his foot… it was not pleasant, and the bastard's traps were cheating!

At least thanks to Tenten's training he could spot some of Oraka-bou-teme's traps easier…

For a while Naruto sat against the stucco wall on the balcony and listened as Sakura's mom worried about her.

-This must be what it's like to have a parent…- a frown made it onto the whiskered boy's face. The closest he ever got to this, this kind of common familiar treatment… was when he fell asleep at Katsu-chan's when she used to live in the apartment below his. It was only a few times, when he'd barged in excited to talk to her about something and she'd just smile at him, not having the heart to tell him to leave. He'd fall asleep on her couch and she'd coo to him when he was half awake, running her hand through his hair and put a blanket over him, making sure to wake him up before she left for work or so he wouldn't miss school.

Naruto rubbed his arms, feeling a chill as he waited for Sakura's mom to leave.

When he finally heard the inner door close, he quickly opened the balcony door and crept inside. He paused a minute in the middle of Sakura's room, listening in case her mom turned around and decided to come back. She didn't, and he moved to kneel at Sakura's bedside.

"Sakura-chan?" her pink hair was plastered to her forehead with sweat. Concerned Naruto went to touch the back of his hand to her forehead, "Jeez! You're burning up!" he growled in a low whisper, flinching slightly, expecting some yelling or hit to come. Instead there was nothing, and he realized she was still unconscious.

Her face looked pained, like she was having a nightmare.

Naruto just frowned, looking down. Sakura was completely covered by her blanket, call the way up to her chin.

Not caring about decorum, Naruto lifted the edge of the blanket and reached her hand, pulling it on top of the blanket, holding it for a moment with his other hand on her wrist, "Get better, kay, Sakura-chan?"

He pat her wrist and pulled his hand away…

That's when he noticed something odd on her wrist. –What's this black mark?- it looked almost like a petal, but all black. Lifting her wrist he noticed there were about four of these petal marks, two of them even had reddish edges and they were hot to the touch. –What the heck are these?-

Sakura groaned again in her sleep and her hand reflexively gripped the closest thing, which happened to be Naruto's hand.

The poor boy had to put his free hand over his mouth as her grip was monstrously tight and crushing his hand. –Even in your sleep, Sakura-chan? I'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryACK?!- He finally managed to free his hand and, for his own safety, put her hand back under the covers, nervously smoothing them out as he didn't know what else to do.

-Those marks… they looked like… almost like the flame ones on Sasuke-teme…- he probably wouldn't have thought about it if the designs weren't so similar. Black tattoos with red edges on some of them, like they were spreading. –What's it mean?-

He didn't get much longer to think about it as suddenly a massive explosion went off and sirens started blaring outside.

"What the-?!" Naruto shot to his feet, looking out Sakura's window and seeing a column of fire and smoke. Blue eyes blinked surprised, recognizing the direction that was coming from, "That's where Yorihi and those guys are staying?! Dattebayou!"

Immediately Naruto jumped to the balcony door, ready to leave as months of drills etched into his brain told his body what to do when it heard that siren.

But momentarily he stopped, looking back at his teammate. Blonde brows rose in the center as his face scrunched up, "Sorry, Sakura-chan, but I gotta go… someone might be hurt, kay?" idly his hand raised, trying to make some gesture but not sure what to do as it hung in the air limply. He wound up just running it through his blonde hair and scratching the back of his head as he faced the balcony door, "See ya, if you aren't better soon, I think… I think I'll try getting Xi-nee to come by and check on you…" blue eyes looked at the unconscious girl, heavy with sympathy, "I know you guys don't really get along… but she… she knows what she's doing, I think, so… so maybe she can help…" shaking his head he heard the siren going off again, "Well, I gotta go help out, like a Chuunin would, right?" he gave a firm nod, "I'll see ya… Dattebayou!" and off the blonde boy went.

On the bed, the pink haired girl grimaced in her sleep, "Na… ru… to…"

To an outside observer it was as if a bomb had suddenly gone off.

One room, second story down near the center of the inn where the foreign shinobi had been housed suddenly exploded into a funnel of fire, rubble raining down, the area scorched and all adjacent rooms had some manner of damage. Alarms went off and fire control jumped into action immediately as chuunin and ANBU escorted panicked civilians out of the area.

Across from the blazing inferno, several ANBU dropped onto the rooftop, where a lone woman in monochromatic gear was sitting idly on the edge. As they approached it was clear her white wolf mask was raised slightly, at least enough to reveal her mouth as she was ripping a piece of medical tape off before lowering the sleeveless kimono top off her right shoulder, showing an open sword wound that for some reason wasn't bleeding. She applied quick field treatment to the wound herself, knowing they were there and not caring.

Once done she lowered her mask and spoke clearly with a voice that sent shivers down every one of their spines, "Tell your boss, I don't appreciate idle threats…"

Three of the ANBU had wired kunai in their chests before any of them knew what happened.

When Kemui stood, facing the remaining two, jerking her hand to retrieve her weapons and staring them down, half her mask cracked and blatant fury on the part of her lower face revealed, one ran on the spot.

The last remaining ANBU stood nearly shaking, weapons in hand facing the demon. He didn't glance at his comrades, he couldn't take the chance…

"Those were ROOT agents," her voice was surprisingly softer compared to before, "Now either run along or warn the Hokage I'm coming to speak with him…"

The man was gone the moment the words left her lips.

By the time they got to the rooftop it was already empty, only three bodies and a bloodstain on the edge.

Yorihi was by the bloodstain, feeling that it was still wet before pulling out something to wipe it off, "She just left."

"Damnit." Yugito growled under her breath, arms crossed and furious. She knew better than anyone, except maybe Yorihi, that if that woman didn't want to be pursued you wouldn't find her, "Where would she go after blowing up our apartment and killing three ANBU…"

"The Hokage, obviously," the blind girl stood up, facing out at the burning rubble of what was once their temporary lodging. Without turning she could see the angry glare on her Aunt's face, understanding what the woman must have been thinking, "She's going there to warn him…"

That gave Yugito pause, "What do you mean by-?"She was cut off as three others arrived.

"Sensei?" Xiao stood between Oku and Karin, the boy looking at the destruction, the redhead looking at the bodies with her hands covering her mouth, and the medic stared at her sensei.

For a moment Yugito just looked at her students, not knowing what to tell them.

"Xiao, take off their masks and check their tongues…" Yorihi turned around quickly, taking action. The only sign this whole event may have been affecting her was her left hand holding the handle of her top sword, "If I'm correct there should be a seal there, one to silence them…"

Blonde brows furrowed over iron black eyes, turning on the blind girl, "Yorihi…?"

Red eyes turned to the blind girl, wanting to understand, to question, but training kicked in and she followed her orders, "Fine, Oku, Karin," the medic nodded to the two and they each went to a fallen ANBU. It was clinical for Xiao, handling a body, alive or dead, her training merely kicked in and she didn't hesitate anymore. While removing the mask she noted the wound that killed him: a single puncture wound, the size of a kunai, hitting exactly where the aorta curved over the heart. –A hit there and they'd be dead in seconds…- this was precise and merciless.

Opening his mouth, she tugged down the tongue, revealing black lines tattooed on the back of the pink muscle. A side glance confirmed, Oku and Karin had found the exact same thing.

Xiao turned to her friend, "Princess… how did you know about this?"

Yorihi stood stock still, impossible to tell how she felt as she seemed to shut off all her emotions, "When I was six the man I killed had a tattoo on the back of his tongue, so I was told," her hand on her sword gripped tighter, ignoring the shocked looks that slowly formed on her comrades' faces, "It seems our commander has run into them again," slightly her face tilted towards Yugito, "If she returns, it will be here."

Running a hand through her blonde bangs, the jounin sighed, "Then we will remain here."

Leaving the corpse where it was, Xiao stood and faced Yugito, "What about us, Sensei? What do we do?" there were still alarms going off, people who were hurt…

Iron black eyes looked at the teen, knowing her student well enough to know what she was asking. Yugito nodded, "Go, you three help where you can, there's no reason we should ignore our hosts when they are in need, just be careful." Her eyes immediately darted to Oku's seemingly closed one, trusting the serious boy with the other two's defense should the need arise.

Xiao immediately nodded, taking one last look at her friend before leaping off the building, Oku and Karin in tow.

Yorihi seemed to ignore them, simply moving to sit on the edge of the roof waiting for when her Teacher would return.

Yugito came up behind the girl, staring sternly at the back of her head, "How did you know about the seals?"

The blind girl moved her hands into her lap, unconsciously tapping the tips of her fingers together, "I have good ears, it was mentioned when they examined the body…"

Blonde brows furrowed, "Why would she pick a fight with these guys, now of all times?"

"Why wouldn't she?" Yorihi mused, "The only reason I can think she purposely escalated a fight like this, to the point it was visible would be that she was in danger and trying to escape. If she had started the fight, intended it to begin with, we would have never known it happened…" her hands stilled as she gripped them tightly in her lap, "She's going to the Hokage, either to warn him about these intruders, or…"

"Or?" it wasn't that Yugito needed her to say it, there was only one real purpose for an Assassin after all.

Yorihi's hands shook, "Or she's going to kill him because he ordered this…"

This day was lasting far too long…

Already the Hokage had been up since before the sun rose, dealing with the incident last night, having to talk with that suspicious Kumo ANBU this morning, getting reports of the woman walking around town with 'two other ANBU' –Kami she is quick- a report from a very disgruntled Hyuuga guard about Hiashi's newest complaints, and less than two hours later this… THIS…

He knew the Kumo-nin were paranoid, extremely secretive despite being openly blunt in their distrust of Konoha, their hosts! Yet to go through and rig their room with THIS level of explosives and traps…

Honestly, it was as if they assumed they were out to kill them?

-Though if this report is true…- an ANBU had just rushed in, terrified, claiming a monster was headed their way. According to him she had killed three other ANBU that had 'showed up' to assess the situation and threatened him, claiming the others were members of ROOT, and warning she was headed to 'speak' with the Hokage.

When the old man's door was kicked in off its hinges and an oppressive killing intent walked in, well, seemed the man's terror was at least somewhat justified.

Before anyone could so much as move, the Kumo ANBU with the broken bloody mask hurled out her hand, two wired kunai expertly grabbed two particular ANBU out of the small crowd informing him of events and dragged them back to her. She broke one's neck instantly and held the other in a headlock, growling something in their ear. Apparently the ANBU didn't respond, or wasn't quick enough, so she broke their neck as well.

Kemui stood, facing the Hokage, and the broken part of her mask revealed her lips to be in a tight frown, held back from a snarl only by a thread, "The rest of you get out, the Hokage and I have business to discuss…"

The group of ANBU, Chuunin and a few Jounin that had been reporting to the Hokage over what had happened had weapons drawn instantly, several of the lower shinobi charging while the more experienced ones held back.

The Hokage only noticed the woman clinch her left hand tighter around the two wired kunai she'd retrieved from her initial attacks.

At least three Chuunin went through his walls, a Jounin and ANBU left through the windows beside him.

Sarutobi Hiruzen took special care to note that the wounds she inflicted on those attacking her now were disabling and relatively nonlethal. A dislocated arm or leg could be popped back in easily enough, and compression injuries from a fall at worst resulted in a few fractures. His men and woman would live, and learn, from this.

Calmly the Hokage pulled out his pipe and cleaned it out, stuffing it with tobacco and sat back patiently in his chair as the foreign ANBU approached his desk. His remaining ANBU and Jounin simply let her, probably assuming they had a better shot at a counterattack if they surrounded her.

The old man held up his hand, waving it to signal he wanted them to retrieve their comrades and not bother their 'guest', before placing his pipe in his mouth and addressed the scowling woman, "Kumo-san, to what do I owe the pleasure of your company again today?"

"This," her voice was audibly lower than it was earlier, as she pointed to the wound on her shoulder, "a courtesy of Shimura Danzo's…"

Whatever Sarutobi thought of the situation before, it was erased. His shoulders lowered, his mouth opened slightly stunned as he looked the woman over again. There was blood on her wounded white wolf mask, the lower half of it was broken, showing mostly the left side along with her mouth while the right had the jagged broken remains of that side down to the chin. There were scuffs and cuts all along her clothing, either indicating rampant attacks or wind chakra, the most telling being the wound in her shoulder that looked to be hastily covered but clean. He hadn't paid it any mind before but her right hand was bleeding and she hadn't moved it since she entered indicating more injury.

She was allowing him to see her in this weakened state… and yet she still was lethal enough to kill members of his forces.

"I… see," he put his pipe down, placing his hands flat on the surface of his desk, physically stopping himself from reacting, "When I had been informed the Inn housing the Foreign Shinobi had been damaged, I had assumed some simple mistake had occurred," hard brown eyes looked at the black lines forming the eyes of her mask, "I had thought it was simply your students making a mistake or someone tripping a trap on accident, I had not considered any of you had been attacked-!"

"Save it." There was a deep furious growl in the woman's voice, "Danzo and his forces have been aiming for our students, our jounin, since the moment they came here. I pose a threat to his plan so he attempted to kill me himself. Any back up from Kumo would spell disastrous for his attempts to acquire the Nibi Jinchuuriki and the Raikage's Daughter as either collateral against our village or to brainwash them into weapons against us…"

"That's-!" The Hokage immediately protested.

"I said save it!" her left hand slammed on the desk, burying the two kunai in it and for the first time the Hokage could see the dried blood on them, "I'm only here to either inform you of the actions of one of your forces going rogue, or to acquire your confession of involvement and we can stop playing this cordial game right now."

"Danzo acted on his own." Sarutobi spoke firmly, glaring at the foreigner.

"But you knew what he was doing?" her left hand twisted the kunai, clearly unable at this point to hold back her true feelings on the matter. "You knew and allowed his actions against us because it benefited your view of our presence here as some precursor for war."

Hard brown eyes glared at the woman and the grandfatherly Hokage was gone, Hiruzen looked at this foreign invader, "What choice did I have? Your village's sudden submission of a team, an ANBU plant among them, Orochimaru's interference as well?"

The woman's hand audibly cracked as her grip tightened on the kunai, her teeth showing as she spoke, "Did it ever occur to you all of that was circumstantial? That all we wanted was to send a genin team to participate in these Exams…"

"Your village seems to think we're idiots," Hiruzen's hands gripped tightly in front of him, barely restraining himself at this point, "ten years, ten YEARS, since the last war, and your Raikage ended it with the biggest insult he could possible give… and you think we aren't going to look at a sudden submission of a team, one containing a demolitions expert, a field medic, and a blood hunter, led by a Jinchuuriki, as just here to play along with this replacement for war?"

There was a growl, the woman's lips tightening into a frown as she pulled out the kunai from the old man's desk and stood as straight as possible, "We wouldn't have come here unless absolutely necessary…"

The old man's fingers tented, hard brown eyes glaring at her, "Please, enlighten me, ANBU-san, how else this incursion could be taken?"

For a moment, Kemui just stared at the man through the slits of her mask, hating him, "Did you ever stop to think that it's your own assumptions that have blinded you to what's really going on?" the old man just kept glaring, no response to give, set in his beliefs. The white haired woman sighed, "Yugito-san was the one to propose coming here, not out of any tactical reasoning, but out of the fact her students have been ready to make Chuunin for a while, and there was no reason to skip an Exams because some bad blood between our villages. The Raikage and I disagreed, but with her here to protect her students, what would be the point in holding them back?" her visible lips frowned, "they were given simple orders; win and don't cause any trouble. At worst we were sending them here to test you and how your Village would react."

The Hokage's shoulders lowered the slightest bit.

"I have reports from Yugito-san about their first two weeks here. Yorihi was accosted by the team containing your Jinchuuriki the first day they set foot here, a misunderstanding on her part, but a clear opportunity used by their Jounin to bring her personally to you," grey eyes watched the man, noting any sign of ill intent, "You were aware of their presence, but took this opportunity spy on our team…"

A slight tilting down of the man's lips, "That is not what happened…"

"Later that same Jinchuuriki of yours attempted to gain access to our student's dwelling, nearly blowing himself and them up in the process…"

"Naruto did what?" that had the Hokage's attention.

"The following day, our students came upon a scene where your own grandson was being accosted by members of the Suna team. They sent them away, yet it our team was never attributed the credit, and the Suna team never punished…"

Unconsciously the old man shook his head, "That couldn't have happened…"

"On the day of the first exam, our team went ahead to the meeting room early, as punctuality is something expected of them, and encountered a Konoha team attempting to put up scanning seals on the doors. They interrupted the process and sought to hinder such actions as it was highly suspicious…"

The Hokage hadn't heard of that. From the reports he got from Ibiki and Anko, the Kumo team had retrieved a seal from the door… but no one was watching when the seal had been placed. –It must be a lie, a trick…-

"As for Yorihi-san being an ANBU plant, you are mistaken." Her voice became crisp, "As I explained to the Hyuuga Clan Head, her status as an ANBU is gifted by her training under them. She earned her mask via training, but like in most Villages, it is a special rank afforded those that have trained in such and does not affect her official rank. She is a genin, as the papers sent noted," the broken wolf mask tilted, the woman's frown becoming more prominent, "Papers that included such training and special ranking; that you approved of."

Hiruzen couldn't very well admit he may have skipped over a few lines…

"Further, while in the second exam, our team was sought out by a Konoha team, then came face to face with the Suna team that held their Jinchuuriki," she paused, looking the man over, insinuations clear in her voice, "We had hoped this was merely a product of the exam, but then our team was attacked by the Sannin, Orochimaru, while assisting another team. From the report given, it was made abundantly clear the snake Sannin's goal was the Uchiha, he even put a cursed seal on the boy, yet despite these concerns raised by our team, they were clearly ignored."

"It makes more sense your team was partnered with Orochimaru, some trick to get us to lower our guard…" The Hokage threw out with barely any effort, feeling so assured at the time the idea struck him, but now…

The woman's fist came down on the desk, the two bloodstained kunai still gripped in her one mobile hand, "They were assaulted, just like your precious team. Yorihi even faced the man again, willing to sacrifice herself to stop him from obtaining your precious Uchiha!" the fist shook, loosening slightly, "Because she is an ANBU, and she knows what a plan someone like that would make would entail if it came to fruition…"

Kakashi had mentioned the girl standing up to the Sannin, ready to fight… but it was a farce…

"Our medic even sacrificed her summon to save one of your students, something your medical team didn't give a damn about…"

"Our medical practices are the best in the world, she should have understood that…" it was something that Hiruzen had not been able to comprehend. Why a foreigner would go to such lengths, even fight his own medical staff, to ensure the safety of one of Konoha's own. –It had reminded me of Tsunade at the time…-

"Yea, best in the world," Kemui spoke darkly, "At the cost of Kumo lives…"

Hiruzen had nothing to say to that.

"I was traveling after that point, the reports sent back to Kumo, but from what I've experienced in the single dayI have been here, I can guess the kind of treatment our students have had to face thanks to your paranoid meddling," Kemui finally pulled back, putting her weapons away into her leg pouch as her broken mask just glared at the man, "I've not had the chance to be fully briefed, but from what I was told, this 'Cultural Exchange' of yours is a joke…"

Hard brown eyes glared at the woman.

"An obvious attempt to corral our students and spy on them," the broken mask shook, "Which, fine, I understand, our students understand, and have been using it to pass the time until the final. Your genin are too inexperienced to employ the tactic properly anyway," her working hand gripped again and a slight snarl took over her face, "But everything beyond that…" there was a growl, "It's just insulting…"

"And what," Hiruzen started, tapping his tented fingers together, "Has been so insulting?"

It was creepy how the woman started laughing, "The fact you don't see what's happening…"

Brown eyes narrowed, "Explain, as you seem to have a unique perspective…"

The laughing stopped, the visible part of her face stilled, "Danzo is fooling you, the Kazekage is fooling you, and Orochimaru… he's just taking advantage of either of their plans for his own selfish desires, like always…"

This time it was the Hokage's hands that slammed on his desk, "What do you know?"

For a long moment Kemui just stared at the man, not sure what to feel by the fury and disgust on his face, "A Kage doesn't camp outside the walls of an ally's Village with a small army just to be 'convenient' or because they're xenophobic. A Kage doesn't send an unstable Jinchuuriki into the middle of an ally Village to compete in a contest that would likely trigger him to go berserk." Her hands lightly were placed on the man's desk as she lowered to face him directly, "A Kage doesn't allow another man's forces to infiltrate his own, especially in key places, and trust this clearly treacherous man with his own defense when his only goal is to kill him…"

A tight frown spread on Hiruzen's lips, "Are you accusing Danzo of conspiring against me?"

Another long pause as a frown spread on the woman's face, "You would have to be blind to not see it," ignoring his reaction she stood up, crossing her arms, "Kumo doesn't care about whatever internal civil war you have going on here, we're only here to compete in the tournament, and my Lord only wants the rightful respect he is owed as a guest invited by a neutral country."

Hiruzen's hand became a fist on his desk, "What is he planning, tell me ANBU-san."

A near snarl showed on the woman's visible lips, holding back a fury she wasn't sure she could control, "We only came here to participate in the Chuunin Exams. YOU! Are the one blaming US! For all your problems and seeing connections that don't exist!" Kemui had to bite her tongue to prevent herself from going any further.

The old man's brows furrowed, "You come into my office, half bloodied and kill two of my ANBU, throw out half of my other forces and tell me a tale about how altruistic you are for telling me that a man I've known for fifty years is planning a coup?" his eyes narrowed, "Do you think I'm an idiot?"

Kemui had to swallow her first response, scowling instead, "I think you're blinded, making the same mistakes you did in the past," she lowered her right arm, the adrenaline leaving and the pain resurfacing as she pumped her hand, "I've lived through a coup, and we were successful in overthrowing a Kage," a pained smirk passed her lips for a moment as she held her arm, "It's a lot easier than you think…"

"Are you threatening me?" the old man's voice lowered to a growl.

Kemui just stared at the man, scowling, "If I were threatening you, there'd be no question," she lowered her chin, releasing enough killer intent to paralyze any Konoha shinobi nearby that had been listening in, "You'd know."

And with that, she turned around, walking out of the man's destroyed office, not caring for his response. He was a Kage, he'd believe what he wanted, but she had told him, warned him as was a guest's responsibility to their host.

It was up to him now whether he believed her or not.

Xiao was working on a few stitches on a civilian's leg when a shadow loomed over her.

Turning on instinct, a kunai was in her hand as she faced the person, red eyes glaring and ready to defend herself and her patient.

So it was a surprise to see it was only a short blonde boy in an orange jumper holding up his hands, "Ah-eh? H-h-hey Xi-nee! N-need any help? Dattebayou?"

A dusky pink brow rose as Xiao put away her weapon, "Na-chan?" her head tilted, "What're you doin'-?!" there was a yelp behind her, "Oh, shit! Sorry!" and the medic crouched down, her hands covering the wound on the man's leg as he started flailing, "Naruto! Hold his chest down while I finish!"

Thankfully, the younger genin jumped too, holding the man's flailing arms above his head, and subsequently the rest of his torso while Xiao went back to her work. The man cried, screamed, and Naruto was forced to put his arm in the man's mouth when Xiao instructed him, telling him he could seize and bite his tongue off, choking himself.

Naruto watched as she worked, this guy had a big cut down the top of his leg, and while it looked clean now, there was a strap at the top of his leg clearly meant to stem blood flow. The skin was ashen and there was a dark stain around the wound. Xiao's hands worked quickly as she sewed up the hole in his leg, then releasing the tourniquet and wrapping his leg with some salve and seals. By the end of it the man had passed out, thankfully as Naruto's arm now had a huge bite mark in it.

Xiao just sighed, sitting back now that she was done, before pulling out a vile of some pills, taking out a few and handing them to Naruto, "Here, put these in the back of his mouth and massage his throat until you feel them go down, the natural reflex of the esophagus should work the rest of the way, it'll help replenish his blood and work to fight any infection."

All the blonde boy could do was nod, dumbfounded by how calm this girl was in a situation like this. Once that was done, he set the guy's head down on the ground, letting him rest as Xiao instructed, as she moved to get up, walking down the row of triage patients.

Naruto quickly ran up behind her, "Ne, Xi-nee, what's all this? Dattebayou?" he waved his hand around, never having seen something like this before.

Xiao just wiped her brow, glancing around then back at the boy, "I guess you wouldn't know what a triage center looks like, huh?" she had a light smile, moving her hand to rub the back of her neck, "That explosion of Oku's… it rained down rubble and damaged nearby buildings, it scared people, and they caused a panic, most of these people were actually hurt by others fleeing then the actual explosion…"

"Oh…" the blonde boy didn't really know what else to say, looking at all the people with injuries, "So… what're you doin' here? What happened? That explosion was huge, I just ran over after seeing Sakura-chan…"

Red eyes looked at the boy sympathetically before looking away, a stern frown raising on her dark lips, "From what Yorihi said of the scene we came upon up there," her dusky pink head nodded up towards the building across from the one that exploded, "Seems our Commander got attacked, activating Oku's seals as a way to escape… supposedly."

Glancing up at the older girl's stern face, Naruto could tell she didn't believe that, "You don't believe what Yorihi said?"

Xiao sighed heavily, moving to rub her head, "I don't know…" shaking her head she moved down the triage patients, glancing to see if anyone else needed her help, "With that woman, it's hard to tell, far as I know…" it took quite a bit to push down the growl in her voice, it wouldn't do to be bad mouthing a commanding shinobi, "All I know is this is partly our fault, our traps set off, so I'm helping the best I can."

"Hehe," the younger boy nudged the dusky pink haired Kumo konoichi, "Eh, I dunno what anyone else thinks, but thanks for the help!"

Xiao stopped and genuinely looked at the boy, red eyes blinking in surprise.

"Hey, uh, I know this is asking a lot," Naruto was looking down, scratching the back of his head and not really noticing the surprised look on Xiao's face, "What with all this, but think you could come check on Sakura-chan? Like… it may be nothing, but probably tomorrow? Or the day after if she's still not better?"

Immediately Xiao's medic mode kicked in, "What's wrong with her?"

The blonde boy frowned, thinking on what he saw, "She's got a fever, her mom says she's been resting all day, and it looked like she was dreaming of something bad…" he snapped his finger, "Oh yea, and these weird marks were on her wrist!"

That got Xiao's attention, "Were they similar to Sasuke-san's?"

A small concerned pout passed the boy's face, "Yea, they kinda were, dattebayou?"

Raising a dark hand, Xiao held her chin, thinking over what this could mean…

"HEY! KUMO!" the two popped their heads up, a med-nin in an all white uniform with fluffy grey brows on his otherwise indistinct face was waving at them, "YOU WANT TO HELP! GET OVER HERE!"

"HAI!" Xiao gave a prompt nod before turning back to Naruto, "Na-chan, I… I'll help how I can, but right now, this is priority…"

"Yea, I got'cha," Naruto gave a similar nod, watching as she went off towards the medics. He was surprised they were actually letting her help unlike last time. Though it seemed to really only be that guy with the fluffy grey brows and two others, the other med-nins seemed to be scowling Xiao's way as she came to help.

-Xi-nee is helping how she can…- looking around at the area, Naruto saw Oku was up in the rubble of the blasted out apartment complex, directing Chuunin, likely about any traps he'd set that hadn't gone off yet. That crazy red haired girl with the glasses seemed to also be helping with the medics, more of just as support then doing surgery like Xiao had been. Other medics were helping with wounded, some chuunin and genin were helping with evacuating people or keeping others out of the danger zone. Looking up, Naruto could see Yorihi sitting on the edge of the building across from the one blown up, along with her sensei, likely overseeing what was going on and ready to help just in case.

Clapping his hands together, Naruto nodded to himself, "Alright, time for me to help out too!" moving his hands into a familiar cross shaped seal he yelled out his signature move, "Kagebushin no Jutsu!" and the band of Narutos got to work, seeing if there was anyone else they could find or help where they could.

Yorihi watched as Xiao, Oku, Karin, and even Naruto were moving around helping the Konoha forces in any way they could. She was keeping an eye out for her comrades, aware of all the higher ranked Konoha shinobi that so much as looked their way, even paying attention to Karin and her actions, making sure she wasn't getting harassed or any attempts made. The supposedly blind girl was actually surprised to spot Naruto, more so that he went to Xiao first before reporting to any Village authorities for orders. He seemed to have just responded on his own and was now acting alone.

Then she was there.

Yorihi felt Kemui before she saw her, the woman seemingly materializing out of the ether, not a trail of chakra or any indication she had been making her way towards them, just appearing. Like she always did.

Her mask was broken, and her wounds were more obvious…

Immediately she said one thing:

"We're leaving."

And turned towards Yugito, not even acknowledging Yorihi's reaction.

"Hey, what?! Wait!" Yugito stepped in front of the white haired woman, putting her hand on her shoulder only to immediately pull it back, seeing the blood on her hand then noticing the hastily done wrap, "What the hell…" iron black eyes raised to see Kemui's broken mask and she started a snarl, "What the hell did you do?!"

Like stone, Kemui turned towards the blonde, the eyes of her mask staring, "I did nothing…"

"BULLSHIT!" the blonde cat yelled, angry at the woman in front of her, "in less than twenty four hours you've gotten in not one, but three fights, assaulted a genin, captured a spy, got injured, spoken with all the major clan heads, nearly got us killed by all but starting a war with the Hyuuga-!"

"We only spoke." Was Kemui's flat interjection.

"Nearly. Got. Us. Killed!" Iron black eyes took on a copper hue as Yugito glared at the woman, making sure Kemui understood she knew the situation they had been in, "Then you head off to 'rest' and for a second I actually believed you!" in a moment of fury she grabbed the woman's vest, drawing her close and speaking in a low growl, "What the hell did you do NOW?!"

For a long moment Kemui was silent, just staring through her mask as if she'd not say… before sighing, removing Yugito's hand from her vest, "Danzo showed up, I sent Karin to warn you, he wants you and Yorihi…"

"Clearly!" a pale hand waved as Yugito pointed at the burned out husk of a building that was once their room.

Kemui lowered her gaze, tucking her chin momentarily, "We need to leave."

"No!" Yugito growled, "You! Need to leave!" roughly the blonde poked the white woman's chest, "We were doing just fine here, I was making peace with the locals, smoothing things over, making it so they could actually believe we were here for peace, just to participate in the exams, then you…" pushing the Assassin away, Yugito needed to step aside, shaking her head as fury took control of her words, "You blame this on them, but it is YOU and the way you've been handling things here that caused this!" her hands went wide, referencing the amount of destruction this one incident had caused, letting the point sink in before pointing at Kemui, "You are the one that has been living up to their opinion that we are nothing but warmongering barbarians…" a hand went over her face as the blonde shook her head before yelling, "I mean damnit you THREATENED the Hokage!"

"I did no such thing." Kemui bit back, the broken part of her mask showing her snarl.

"Bullshit!" Yugito yelled back, "You wouldn't be here! Trying to leave if you didn't!" at this point the Nibi container was showing her teeth as well, watching the Assassin. When all Kemui did was face away, Yugito knew she was right, "GOD-DAMNIT!" she turned around, hands balled into fists as her shoulders shook.

"Yugito, please," Kemui stepped forward, only to halt as pain shot through her leg, her next words coming through grit teeth, "We need to leave…"

"No," the blonde growled. She could feel Kemui move to protest so Yugito turned and held up her hand, "Save it! You… you stay, right there," her hand pointed right at the roof, "and don't do a damn thing!" Yugito turned to leave, fists clinched and her shoulders tight, "I'll fix this! Because I will be damned if my team, MY. TEAM!" her hand pounded on her chest, her voice getting emotional as she held the fabric over her heart, "Get thrown out of this because of you and your stupid politics."

Kemui grits her teeth, "It would be reckless to stay here, especially for something as frivolous as-!"

"The only way those kids are leaving this place without winning that tournament is in a body bag." Darkly Yugito glared over her shoulder at the white haired dog.

Kemui's left hand tightened into a fist, any other emotion leaving her face, "They just might."

Yugito turns side face, enough to glare at the woman with a shimmer of tears at the edge of her furious copper tinted eyes. Her own fists tighten, along with her jaw, but instead of attacking Yugito just shakes her head and disappears, bent on fixing this situation somehow.

With the furious Jinchuuriki gone, Kemui nearly collapses.

Instantly Yorihi is at her Teacher's side, holding the woman up and guiding her to the edge to sit down.

Neither speak for a long moment, as Kemui focuses on hiding her pain and Yorihi looks her wounds over.

"At the very least, we should leave," the words were low, soft, only for Yorihi to hear.

Pale hands tug along the split in the woman's shoulder, seeing that the wound was now bleeding through the bandage, "This needs to be redone," immediately, Yorihi's hands moved, pulling out one of her salves and a roll of medical tape.

Kemui grabs her hand, staring with the slit eyes of her mask to the symbol of Kumo covering the girl's eyes, "Yorihi."

The blind girl halts, deflating slightly but doesn't put away her instruments or lose all her tension, "We can't," she raises her head to look at her Teacher, "If I'm not here to witness the preceding tournament, if I'm not present to make sure Xiao-chan and Oku-kun participate, win, and leave this place unhindered, I'll have failed my mission."

"They aren't as important…" the words were out and said in a clinical way. Kemui didn't mean any ill-will towards the children, to her it was just a simple fact. Her Lord's Daughter would always be more important.

A small frown tugged on Yorihi's lips, she knew what Kemui meant but it still bothered her all the same, "They are to me," she pulled her hand out of her Teacher's weakened grip, moving to work on the woman's shoulder, "I'll do what I can, but you will need Xiao-chan to stitch the wound later, understand?"

There was only a light nod, "Of course," Kemui reached up and pulled off her mask, she only needed it off for a moment to get this done. With a lot of effort, and help from Yorihi when she noticed, to move her injured arm, running the bloodied fingers along a seal on the inside of her mask. It flashed for a moment and then went to work. The mask reformed the broken parts and after a moment it was as if it was never damaged to begin with. When Kemui flipped it over, it was new, only marred by the dried blood on the front. She'd clean that later, and replaced the mask. "Thank Kami for fix-it seals."

There was a small snort from the blind girl, "Yea, you realize how nice they are when you come to a place like this that doesn't have them," she had applied the salve to the open wound, trusting Xiao would suture it later, and rewrapped it the best she could. Tying the end of the bandage, Yorihi chided her Teacher, "You shouldn't have tried to attack her like that…"

"I wasn't attacking anyone," Kemui spoke softly, pulling out a cleaning rag to try and get the blood off her hands. It hurt to move but it would be some time before she could get pain killers from Xiao. That is of course meaning the girl was willing to truly help her still.

Cyan tattooed brows just flatly glared at the masked woman, "Yes, you were." Moving her hands to take Kemui's injured arm, Yorihi started taking off her arm guard, intent to rewrap her wound, as clearly her arm had been damaged in a way that had reopened the injury, "You were ordering her to leave, with no explanation and no consideration of her feelings…"

"I had considered them," Kemui just watched as her student undid the wrapping Xiao had put on this morning. Her arm twitching with each touch, both out of pain and reflex.

"You just didn't think they were worth mentioning?" with the wrapping off and the healing seals removed, Yorihi could see the outer surface of the incision. The cut and sutures had been clean, but a quick look with her other sight showed her that there was a tear inside, that's what was causing the bleeding. It wasn't fatal and didn't need further help, it'd fix itself eventually, it was just going to be painful.

The white haired ANBU just looked away, she had no real answer to give her student.

Yorihi understood. She knew how the Assassins thought thanks to her Teacher and Tougemichi, they were quiet and straight forward. The logic was that Yugito and she were targets in this village, so the easiest way to take away that would be to remove them from the village. It was simple, basic, just purely a retreat. –But it's not what we need to be doing right now…-

While cleaning the wound, Yorihi ran her thumbs along the entirety of her Teacher's forearm, a physical habit to make up for what her eyes were showing her. "So many scars…"

"Hm?" that wounded wolf mask turned to the young girl.

Gently, Yorihi moved her fingers along a certain set of faded scars, "I remember these," they were concentrated around the woman's wrist, wrapped lines cut in by wires, "This is… when you saved me… from that fall… you nearly lost this arm… because of me."

Behind her mask a barely there smile played on the white haired woman's lips, "It's nothing…"

Partially gloved hands tightened around the woman's wrist, as Yorihi frowned, "It's not nothing," she sniffled, unable to push back the emotions brought up by the memory, "You could have died saving me, I'm sorry…"

With her free and mobile hand, Kemui reached out and poked Yorihi on the forehead, just above her Hitae-ate, catching the girl's attention. Behind her mask she was smiling, and while she wasn't sure the girl could see it, she tried to convey the emotion in her voice, "I've served your father for nearly twenty years, I've got more scars from that than any you could possibly blame yourself for…"

"Kemui-sama…" the blind girl's shoulders deflated, still feeling sorry for any injury the woman got form her. More so now that she knew what it could cost her, or her Father.

That free hand just dropped on Yorihi's head and mussed up her hair, as Kemui's lilting voice continued, "You are one of the few shinobi that understands I don't do this for the sake of the Village. I serve your father, not the Village, and that comes with its own share of dangers…"

Yorihi pouted, still not satisfied, "Do you regret it?"

"Never," there's an amused tone to Kemui's voice that surprisingly makes its way through the mask, "Even if I've gotten more injuries that I can count in his service…" there was a surprising chuckle from the woman as she continued more to herself than the young girl next to her, "And at least one scar that will never heal…"

At the odd comment, Yorihi tilts her head, "Can I examine it?" holding up her hand, inferring to touch it. She was always curious about what her Teacher did, and if this helped her understand the woman more she'd want to know.

The white wolf mask just stared at Yorihi for a long moment, before shaking her head, "No, I don't think that would be appropriate," Kemui smirked behind her mask, amused by the girl's innocence, still even after everything that had happened to her so far in her life, "Let's just finish here and wait for Yugito to report back…"

"So we're not leaving?" there was a definite pout on the girl's face as she rewrapped her Teacher's arm, confused by her comment but putting it aside for now.

Kemui just stared at her, "You refuse to abandon your mission, so I very well can't abandon mine as well…"

A small smile picked at the blind girl's lips, "You know Nee-chan is going to be pissed at you for a while, right?"

There was a sigh behind the mask, "Cats and their grudges."

A boisterous laugh filled the room.

A woman with wild brown hair, red fang marks on her cheeks and an overall 'rough' appearance, was smacking her knee and laughing her ass off as she somewhat lounged on a large worn pillow on a raised stage in what could only be called a 'presenting' room. Inuzuka Tsume was enjoying the hell out of her position right now.

"So lemme get this straight," there was a growl in her voice but it didn't seem to be out of hostility, just how the woman talked, as she leaned on her elbow, smirking with a fang showing as her pinprick eyes looked at the masked Kumo ANBU in front of her. The kids were kneeling behind the ANBU woman, and their instructor was standing not far away from Tsume, arms crossed, and seemingly glaring at her own commander with contempt. Tsume's grin grew the slightest bit as she absently reached out to pet her large black wolfdog Kuromaru, who was sharing the large pillow with her, "You got in a fight with one of our elders, blew up a building, then bitched out our leader, and your friend there," she waved at the glaring blonde, "has to come crawling to me like a cat stuck out in the rain, asking for a spot in our kennel? That about the gist of it?"

The white haired masked woman stood silently for a long minute. Tsume figured she was used to the more 'prim and proper' types of clan leaders, but no one ever said the Alpha-Bitch she was didn't like to disappoint. "That would be a… fair," it sounded like she was pulling the word through grit teeth and not just that mask, "assessment of our situation."

The woman was ruffled, Tsume liked when people were ruffled. Giving an obvious sniff, the Inuzuka leader sat up, petting her partner and getting a good look at the Kumo-nin. The kids weren't as hard to read as they probably thought, better than her pup, but they were still children. She could smell blood on the redhead and pink haired girls, the boy smelled of gunpowder and plaster, the blind one seemed to be the best at hiding her emotions though that was probably helped by half her face being covered up by that plate with the Kumo insignia. The masked woman smelled of death and battle, she was wounded but still obviously prepared to fight if needed, would probably kill herself doing it and wouldn't hesitate.

Tsume's tiny black eyes turned to the cat woman, the blonde giving her a bored look. They had hashed out the details earlier, but Tsume had told her she still wanted to get a good look at the rest coming in from the rain with her.

With a gruff grunt the Inuzuka leader rolled her neck, "Alright, c'mon," then got up, her partner following suit, his remaining eye watching their 'guests', as Tsume waved her hand over her shoulder, "I'm doing this as a favor to that cat," when she looked back the adults were looking at her flatly, at least that was the impression the wild woman gathered. A fanged grin was their response, "What? It's been awhile since I've had someone 'fun' to drink with?" she waved her hand again and they finally followed, "Besides, with what happened, chances are you lot would be sent here anyway, then I'd be much more grumpy about it and you'd be followed by my guard dogs…"

There was a groan at the back of the Kumo group, where Yugito relegated herself, arms still crossed and in a sour mood, "Those guys aren't fun."

Raised brows all around, as Tsume shrugged widely at the front, "What? They're supposed to chase off strays, especially nosy cats that hang out on my walls!"

There was a "Hrumph!" as the blonde woman stuck her nose up.

Xiao and Oku shared a look, the young medic glancing back at her teacher, "Sensei? What have you been up to since we got here?"

The face Yugito made could be best described as what one would expect a fat lazy housecat would make when caught tearing up something it shouldn't have; unapologetic and uncaring, "Trying the local cuisine."

While Xiao, Oku and Karin gave the blonde woman a questionable look, Yorihi, who was standing behind her Teacher, snickered into her hand. To be fair, she had witnessed Yugito clean out a ramen house of its tempura shrimp.

"I told you, we have the best home brew around," Tsume boasted, as a red dog ran up from behind the house and grumbled at her partner. The seemed to speak a moment before the red dog ran off, causing Tsume to glance down at Kuromaru. The eyepatch wearing wolfdog seemed to grumble but that was enough for the Inuzuka leader to get the gist, "Guess that didn't last long, huh?"

The black dog growled deeply, "The Suna shinobi have been moved to the Nara compound."

The wild woman nodded, crossing her arms, "Of course they have," a frown crossed her red marked face, "Well, I guess its official, you're under our guard until the tournament," she waved her hand, "Then you're not our problem anymore…"

"Your prior hospitality is still appreciated," a lilt voice called out behind Tsume. She knew it was the woman in the mask, but somehow that sounded more unnerving then her previous bravado.

There was a rough nod from the Inuzuka clan head, "This was more fun when I was doing this of my own volition."

"You mean to snub Hiashi?" a cheery voice called from the back of the group, Yugito smirking with a Cheshire grin.

"You should stop listening to the trash that comes out of my mouth when I'm drunk!" the woman barked back at the cat.

Red eyes blinked as Xiao leaned into her teacher, speaking behind her hand in harsh whisper, "What did you do with this woman?" so far the only experience the dusky pink haired girl had with an Inuzuka was with Kiba from the first exam, and the boy had less manners than his dog! –What the hell is the leader of his clan like then?-

Yugito just waved her hand as if it was no big deal, "I told you, trying local cuisine."

"But Sensei, booze doesn't count as cuisine…" Oku scratched the side of his head.

"Shut up, Oku!" both blonde sensei and his partner yelled at him, Xiao clearly more stressed then their sensei about this situation.

Tsume was chuckling at the front, amused just listening to her guests. A grey dog came up to her, grunting and growling. She seemed to snort at it and cocked her head, Kuromaru gave a growl, chasing the pup off.

"News?" again, that low lilting voice from behind the white mask.

Glancing behind her Tsume just frowned, "Nothing important," she waved her hand, "The room's over here."

The group stopped at an attached building behind the Inuzuka main compound. It was within their walls but far enough away to not be seen from the main village. "We use this place mainly as storage, or an expansion to our kennel when the bitches are in heat."

"It's going to smell like dog, isn't it?" a sour look passed Yugito's face.

"You're free to sleep in a tree if you prefer!" the Inuzuka clan head waved her hand out, referencing the large lands with a thick forest on the property. The land was good for training the dogs and the pups had room to run around and get their exercise, "As long as it's on the property, just know the dogs will likely be much more cuddly out in the woods then in here."

"Storage room you said?" Yugito stepped forward and opened the sliding door. As expected it was a large empty room with movable walls to section off areas. Half of it was still filled with crates of stuff, while the other half had been cleared out and several beds set up. Yugito flatly looked around, that sour look still on her face, "Oh, look, beds…"

"What? You want big pillows? We got big pillows!" Tsume was grinning wide and clearly enjoying herself far too much.

The Nibi container just sighed heavily, waving over her shoulder for the Kumo team and Karin to follow her in. the sooner they set up the better.

"Oh yea, mind not setting any traps?" Tsume held up her hand making a point, "seeing as that's what got you guys landed here, I'd much rather you not blow up my property. Some of those crates are somewhat important."

Oku flat out glared at the woman, as much as a boy who looked to have his eyes closed could, Lior even climbed out of his knapsack den to growl at the dog woman. Xiao had a brow raised and looked at the woman incredulously, she knew it was a valid precaution but still…

Karin had actually walked over to one of the crates and looked inside while the others were staring, reaching her hand in and pulling something out that looked to be made of plastic and when she squeezed it the thing made a loud squeak. The others stared at her, making the glasses wearing girl nervous, "Ah, oops."

"Squeaky toys?" was that a deadpan comment from behind the white mask?

Tsume crossed her arms, brow twitching and fighting the frown on her face, "They're very important when dealing with two dozen puppies…"

"Secrets of the Inuzuka, highly sought after and prized." Yugito added just as flatly.

That spiky brown brow on Tsume's forehead twitched even more, "Don't spy on us, we won't spy on you, got it! We'll handle the defenses and warnings should anything happen, you guys just don't blow up my property."

"It's not like that happens everywhere we go," Xiao was the one to respond, almost offended. While Yorihi and Oku were seemingly not paying attention.

There was a gruff snort from the Inuzuka clan leader, staring at the girl narrowly before turning towards the only other person still standing outside the room; the woman in the white mask, "You, let's have a chat."

The masked woman didn't seem surprised, though the blonde stared at them sharply, her gaze not leaving until the masked ANBU shut the door to their new room and seemed to follow the Inuzuka clan head.

Tsume didn't walk that far, just enough for the two of them to gain relatively privacy. She left Kuromaru to watch the Kumo team, as she faced off with their apparent commander. The woman was short but intimidating, shorter than she remembered but much more intimidating. Tsume's pinprick eyes just looked over every inch of the ANBU, trying to tell herself what she thought wasn't real and this was just someone remarkably similar.

But she knew that wasn't true, "You can change the way you look, the way act, but one thing people always forget is they can't change their scent…"

"I beg your pardon?" that flat lilting voice responded, showing no sign of being caught or stressed.

Rough brown brows lower as the dog woman leaned in closer to that mask, "I'm not an idiot. Everyone else can pretend or play along with your bullshit," roughly she poked the woman in the chest, "I don't care how many people you had to kill to get a scent like that trying to mask it, but underneath it all you still smell like that friendly barmaid that died with the Uchiha…"

The mask was still, as if the woman behind it was simply staring at the accusation, probably considering it, but overall it didn't seem to have any effect, "I'm sorry, I believe you have me mistake for someone else," she gave a small nod, almost as if condolences.

It made Tsume furious, her lip pulling back in a snarl showing a fang, but otherwise she held it in and took a step back, crossing her arms and shaking her head, "You better have hit your head and simply not remember anything that happened here, else I'll be really pissed off to be tricked, twice, into thinking I lost someone I cared about…" the intense stare she gave promised blood and fury.

Kemui simply did not respond. There was no right answer here and it was one of the reasons she hadn't wanted to come to Konoha in the first place. But her duty trumped self-preservation.

Tsume just growled, staring at the woman. Everything her eyes told her said this couldn't be the same woman, couldn't be that sweet girl with the white haired that served her sake back at Kunai's six-seven years ago. This woman was older, looked and felt deadly, showed no unnecessary emotion and was insane enough to go up against Danzo and lucky enough to survive. Katsuri couldn't have done that, hell Tsume wasn't sure she could do that.

But the scent was there, and she never forgot a single one.

With a low, frustrated growl, Tsume just frowned, looking away, "Do anything, I kill you, understand?"

The ANBU gave a swift nod, "I would expect nothing less, Inuzuka-sama."

"Keh," the dog woman gave a huff, looking mad at herself, "We stick to our word, and a friend once told me people from Rai no Kuni do the same," sharp pinprick black eyes stared at that bloodied mask of the scarred wolf, "You're under our protection now, so don't do anything stupid or we'll be the first ones to bite you."

The woman's mask tilted in a way that may have suggested she was smiling, at least that's how Tsume was going to interpret it, "As I said, I would expect nothing less…" and with that she turned around, her four thin long braids waving behind her as she turned the corner and returned to her comrades.

The frown didn't leave Tsume's face, watching her go. –Fuck! She even walks different…- there were so many details telling her brain that this wasn't the same woman, but Tsume was an Inuzuka, the only thing they truly trusted was their nose. –And my nose is saying that's the same woman…- but to recognize either brought about a whole other level of messed up stuff the Inuzuka clan head did not want to be dealing with right now.

"Fuck." Putting her hand to her head, Tsume just whined, then growled, then turned to the side and glared at a tree not far away, sniffing the air pretty obviously, "Oi! You better get the hell off my property old man, else my dogs are going to have a new chew toy…"

There was a rustle in the trees and a toad ribbited on its way out from under the bush.

Tsume just glared. She had enough problems now with watching AND guarding the Kumo team, she didn't need old perverts spying on her guests and pissing her off. With a growl the Inuzuka clan head crossed her arms and walked back towards her den, grumbling about everything being dropped in her lap thanks to a stray cat.

Kuromaru quickly followed his partner, sicing a pack of pups to watch the Kumo team while they settled in, "Something the matter?"

The brown haired wild woman just kept growling, "Next time I'll just let her neuter that old bastard…"

With a sigh the large black wolfdog just followed his master, knowing the next few weeks were going to be… fun.

The stars out in the wilderness were bright at night, even near the campfire.

A small boy who couldn't be much older than six with swept back white hair watched the lights in the sky with large innocent black eyes.

His guardian was nearby, leaning on one of the few trees in the rocky plain they were camping tonight. The tall thin young man was sharpening his large sword, the one his mother had given him when he first came into her service. He wore strange clothes, long loose and baggy, looking a bit like his mother's clothes except he had one sleeve ripped off. He had told him his big sister had done that so he left it, using the empty space to show off his Hiate-ate he wore wrapped along his upper arm, along with a tattoo his grandmother insisted on him getting.

His cousin was on watch, with her partner. The reddish brunette had her cleaver sword out and ready should anything attack, while her partner was on the opposite end of their campsite with her tomahawks ready for a fight. He'd only met the pale blonde girl a few times, usually she came by to get his cousin so they could go off and do 'ninja-things' as Mei liked to put it.

The rest were asleep, or should have been. He was young but his mother had taught him the basics of watch procedures, two to four hour shifts, at least three if available, so everyone gets adequate sleep and they could be prepared for an attack.

Other than those three and himself, there was only one other person awake.

"Sutego-kun? What are you doing still up?" the large Oni of a man asked the young boy with what anyone else would assume was a gruff, annoyed tone of voice.

To Sutego it was kind, as the young white haired boy smiled back at the large man as he sat down by the fire. The Raikage was a giant, Sutego himself felt he was only the size of the man's hand, and his mother barely came up past his waist, and with his small threatening eyes and dark skin anyone else would call him a terror. To the young boy, and to his mother and big sister, this man was as gentle as anyone in Kumo could be.

The Raikage just narrowed his eyes down at the quiet smiling boy, leaning on one hand as he stroked his beard with the other, "What?"

"Mm," the boy shook his head, bowing respectfully, "Apologies, Lord Raikage," his wide black eyes were bright as he looked from the large man up to the stars, "I just… liked seeing the stars."

"Hmm?" the large dark skinned man's small black eyes blinked, looking from the boy up to the sky above them, "Hmp, that all?" there was a rumble from the large man's chest, "I suppose… it is interesting to see," he looked down at the boy, a small edge to his lip rising, "This is your first time out of the Village, isn't it, boy?"

Bashfully the young white haired boy gave a nod.

There was a boisterous laugh from the other side of the fire, "I always forget, with how much your mother travels that she doesn't take you with her," her rubbed his blonde beard with a bit of pout, "Suppose that's safer for you anyway…"

The small boy blushed, embarrassed, lowering his head, "I-I w-will try n-not to disrupt you or her work on this mission…"

Jin looked down at the proper boy with a nostalgic fondness, "Your mother was never that considerate," he reached over and pat the boy's head with his large hand, "don't think you have to do anything for this mission," he mussed his white hair, "You're just here to cheer on your big sister, understood."

Sutego's face was red and his hair was sticking up at all ends and messed up beyond repair, but the boy nodded his head, almost bowing to the closest thing he had to a father, "Y-yessir."

The Raikage just sighed, then couldn't help but chuckle, "You're going to be just like her when you're older, aren't you?"

"Lord Raikage?" those wide black eyes of his blinked, staring up at the large oni of a man and not understanding his meaning.

"Nothing," the Raikage waved his hand, "Now you get back to sleep, we've still got a week's long journey and I'm NOT slowing down for any little brats, understood!"

Without thinking Sutego squeaked, "Yessir!" and jumped into the available sleeping bag. He'd sleep, he'd rest, and he wouldn't be a burden to anyone.

The Raikage looked at the little boy, all curled up in a ball and wrapped up in blankets. If he ignored the white hair which made him think of the boy's mother, he reminded him of Yorihi during those first few years. So small and open, everything new and interesting through her eyes. The world hadn't changed much since then but they had… they had a lot.

With a final sigh, the Raikage slumped by the fire, "Damnit, I feel old."

A week and he'd get to see her again, that surly scowl she'd developed that his brother blamed on him, along with his most loyal subordinate. Hopefully he could pull off one of the greatest shows of one-upmanship the Elemental Nations had ever seen before the Last Assassin decided to gut him for being stupid and reckless again.

That brought a smile to the 'old man's' face, this was most certainly going to fun.

If his daughter didn't start a war, he sure as hell just might.

He couldn't help but chuckle at the thought.

Honne – True Sound – one half of the concept of separation between a person's public and private 'face', this one being about their true feelings and desires kept to themselves.

A/N: an alternate title can be 'KEMUI IS PISSED!' for all the good it'd do me -snorts-

i realized this would be the ONLY time i'd be able to have Danzo and Kemui 'meet' and as weird as it is i kinda like or at least respect the idea of Danzo and what he could have been... also apparently according to 'wiki' i was interpreting Izanagi wrong, i thought it was like a cosmic reset cause the manga explained it weird, so stuff could happen and he'd just reset himself in a different place... nerp, he just makes his body 'not-real' and to me that's not nearly as cool... also i forgot about the seal thing he did and just blame that he took it off prior to meeting with the Last Assassin as extra insurance...

and i promised we'd see the Raikage again... soooo... spoilers?

and if the flow seems weird its cause i wrote all the scenes with Kemui except the Tsume one halfway into posting LAST chapter... i knew what i wanted with her... buuuuuut... needed explaining around everything else... and Naruto likes to insert himself with his subplot -pouts-

anyway! everyone's pissed! yay! and no not drunk for any EU readers :P

Till next -salute-waves- Sayounara, Mina!

-Ikasury