Derecho

Three years ago.
…
_______

Mayu stands among the crowds of her fellow Konoha citizens, shinobi and civilian alike. They congregate before the Hokage tower, hushed excitement bubbling through the air, as they all come together to witness her father be sworn into office.

Genki and Megumi are warm barriers on either side of her, warding away the worst of the pushy crowds.

Everyone falls truly silent when the Sandaime steps forward, raising his hand up to signal the start of the ceremony. At his shoulder and just behind the old man Mayu can just make out her dad’s head of wild silver hair, she can feel the way his chakra is doing backflips within him. She can also sense the staggering amount of Anbu posted around the tower, across the roofs, and even on the tower itself. Undoubtedly to dissuade any ideas of running.

“Citizens of Konoha, my fellow Fire Countrymen.” The Hokage’s voice carries across the village, it carries the same rasping sort of notes in every grandparents voice but it’s no less strong, no less unshaken.

“I am proud to stand before you again today, to usher in a new era of our village. I am honored to have served as your Kage, but no less relieved to pass on the torch and enjoy my retirement!”

The Sandaime gestures with his hand, and Kakashi trudges up beside him decked out in ceremonial robes. The three children share amused looks, her dad is visibly reluctant even from here.

“Behold, the Godaime Hokage! Hatake Kakashi!”

The people scream in elation, someone sets off fireworks to flare against the gold of the evening sky. The cheering and the fire works will carry on late into the night, food stalls will open and the markets will be turned into a vestal hall, truly a village wide celebration.

Team 18 laughs as the Sandaime removes his hat to pass to Kakashi, causally wrestling it onto his head, Gai’s hand on the new Kage’s shoulder most likely the only reason he hasn’t tried to flee again.

_______

It takes three days for Konoha to face her second upheaval since the invasion, get through it, and then get her equilibrium back.

The first day of Hatake Kakashi’s reign as Godaime sees him storming through the Kage tower, blazing a furious trail through every filing room, meeting hall, and even the individual offices. The first day of Hatake Kakashi’s reign as Godaime sees him firing about seventy-five percent of his immediate staff, promoting twenty percent, and arresting the last five percent.

The most notable arrests? The Sandaime’s previous council of advisors: Mitokado Homura, Utahana Koharu, and of course. Shimura Danzo.

The second day of the Godaime’s reign sees Kakashi gathering up his new council, sometimes happy to be included, sometimes they get dragged kicking and screaming. If Kakashi has to face all this fucking responsibility, then they can damn well fucking help him.

The second day of the Goadaime’s reign sees Maito Gai, Umino Iruka, Shiranui Genma, and Yuhi Kurenai gathered in meeting hall seven, the usual council meeting hall.

Kakashi can see the dread and trepidation on Kurenai, and Genma’s faces, the amused resignation of Iruka’s and Gai’s. The new Kage only smiles, only a bit vindictive, from his seat at the head of the meeting table, Mayu seated on his lap. He hadn’t let his daughter out of his sight since they’d arrived home the day before yesterday, and she didn’t seem to have an issue with this arrangement.

“Congratulations! You’ve all been selected as the new Kage Council, willing or otherwise.” He narrows his eyes at the two most likely to try and flee, taking joy in his newfound tyrannical power. “Looking forward to working with you!”

Suck it, you traitors.

The third day of the reign of the Godaime sees Kakashi calling together an execution.

…

It’s a sunny, chilly Monday morning, and Mayu is attending an execution.

The now eleven year old sits in the stands of the Konoha Coliseum, the location of the chunnin final exams now housing the grand spectacle of a public execution.

Mayu sits in the crowds of her shinobi peers, every rank from newly graduated Gennin to Jounin veteran packed into the stands, watching the events unfolding in the arena below.

All in all, the whole thing only takes about thirty minutes, and then, just like that, Shimura Danzo is dead.

Honestly, after what her dad had told her of his week of investigation and destruction when she’d been missing, Mayu had expected more of a spectacle. But no, the traitorous bastard was practically docile as he was dragged onto the execution platform and forced to kneel before her father. Danzo said nothing, not even a twitch, as his sins were listed aloud for the gathering of all Konoha shinobi forces to hear, and was thusly executed. Just like that, Konoha’s biggest monster, dead head toppling across the ground and body slumping, bloody and lifeless.

It’s the aftermath that’s much more hectic.

Root predictably falls to pieces without its master. The majority of Root agents falling back onto conditioned responses, leading to the discovery of a multitude of corpses, all of them suicides. The rest of the agents, a sad estimate of around twenty-four, flee. They are either the few who scraped together enough of a personality, or managed to retain enough of themselves, fleeing into the night and it was doubtful that they’d ever return.

All that was really left were the children. Those stolen from their family’s and kept in the suffocating dark of Root, to be trained into hollow puppets.

Most of them are stolen clan children that are returned to their rightful places post haste, though a scant few were orphans. These children were shuffled off to trusted, shinobi families when they could be, or held in the Hokage tower and watched over there until they could find people to take them.

One such child stares at her from across the Hatake’s dining room table, dark eyes hollow and cold.

They’re twelve to Mayu’s eleven, and no matter what she does they remain silent, traipsing after her like a pale shadow. Eyes always watching, watching everything she does, and not seeming to be interested in anything or anyone else.

Like right now, as she prepares sushi for their lunch, and fathomless black eyes take in her every move. All her usual cajoling bringing nothing to those dark eyes, though they’re obviously listening to her as she narrates instructions to them as she rolls the sushi.

Mayu had been one of the chunnin assigned to the papaerwork flood that came in when the orphaned Root children were found. Councilman Iruka had put her and a few other chunnin in charge of interviewing potential shinobi families, including clan families, open to adoption. This child in particular had latched onto her immediately, so she’d happily taken him home with her.

Her dad kept reminding her that they were a child, not a stray dog.

Mayu finishes rolling her sushi roll, slower than usual to demonstrate how, and cheering when the other child copies her successfully.

“Good job, Sai!”

“…”

Sai was kind of a sucky brother right now, but Mayu was determined to be the best sister in the world.

_______

Mayu wasn’t sure how she kept getting herself into these situations. “These situations” being, getting saddled with severely emotionally stunted children.

The past weeks had gone by fairly peacefully, dealing with the aftermath of Danzo’s execution, clearing out old Root bases, and ensuring all traumatized children ending up with their correct families again going almost unnaturally smooth. Mayu had been kept in village and this would probably not be changing anytime soon, because of being both the daughter of the new Hokage and also because of her recent month long disappearance into the Spirit World. Megumi and Genki held no such compunctions, and had returned to the regular missions roster immediately, even Haru-sensei was gone dealing with “clan business” as it were.

This left Mayu, when not dealing with boring paperwork and interviewing duties and reporting to Councilman Iruka, to entertain both herself and her new friend. She’d already taught Sai checkers, then chess, then Shoji and then Go, they’d explored the entirety of the shopping districts twice and even stopped to visit TenTen. They’d even trained together! and Mayu made a mental note to check Sai for a new Bloodline, living paintings were definitely NOT a normal jutsu genius or no.

Also people keep coming up to her to either give her gifts, ask her for something, or ask her to ask her dad for something. Both Shinobi and civilian alike. She gleefully takes the offerings of food, and if the request is reasonable enough she’s usually down to help. Mostly just the kids, and the elderly, have reasonable requests.

This led them to her predicament now, the little girl deciding that exploring the depths of the Hokage tower was much more interesting than sitting in on another one of her father’s meetings.

Sai, Mayu, and Gaara sit in the sand nin’s, truly very nice, apartment in one of the towers sub basements. A “political cell” is what Mayu would label it as, because for all its nice, bright, and airy decor the door is made of reinforced metal and seals, and the air vents are minuscule. Apparently, Gaara’s siblings had been carted back to Sand after the invasion as a sign of goodwill, they’d kept Gaara as a assurance that thit goodwill would stay good.

Poor kid’s been in here all by himself since, and would probably be staying for awhile longer until the whole Danzo thing was over and her dad could find the time to finally address the whole “Holding the Kazekage’s son as a political hostage” thing.

“…”

“…”

“So! Gaara, what have you been up to down here?” Mayu had her work cut out for her, these two absolutely sucked at emoting.

“…Reading mostly, Konoha has a truly extensive collection of literature. Far more than Wind country at least.”

Good for him, at least he doesn’t seem to be completely bored out of his mind. Also, “You seem to be feeling better? Well, other than the chunnin exams recovery that it is.” Mayu feels both triumphant and also slightly terrified at the small smile that tugs at the sand nin’s mouth.

“Much, thank you. I’ve actually managed sleep for the first time in years, apparently you electrocuted the Ichibi so badly you knocked him into a small coma. He’s awake again now, but is much more…subdued.” It’s the most he’s ever spoken Mayu thinks, his voice quiet but rasping from disuse.

“Oh, well I’m glad you’re doing better now!” He looks much better too, the black rings around his eyes lessening to a much more normal degree of tired circles smudging his face. His skin, while still weirdly pale for a desert dweller, is a much healthier tone, and his eyes aren’t so feral and crazed. Like this, still tired but so much better, dressed in loose robes and appearing so at peace, his eyes are actually quite pretty, sea foam green glittering beneath the electric lights.

The three fall back into silence, well Sai never says anything so he just stays silent. Mayu sighs internally, she missed Megumi and Genki! She missed hanging out with people who actually had some kind of social grace!

The eleven year old steadies her determination, she’d figure out how to reach these two! Before Mayu had to return to the mission roster she promised herself she’d have two new friends!

“So! Gaara, I’ve already sparred with Sai here, but what do you say to a friendly fight?”

The smiles the two share are equally vicious.

Sai looks between the other two children, one the little girl who declared herself his sister and so he her brother. The other, a boy with eyes almost like his own but, just like Sai himself, when he looks to Mayu his eyes soften too.

Sai thinks, for the first time in his whole dark, lonely existence, that maybe he’ll finally feel something other than this hollow coldness.

_______

Anbu Otter appears in the Hokage office, disheveled and covered in flecks of sand and glittering glass, smelling of ozone.

“Hokage-sama! Gaara has gotten free of his cell, your daughter has engaged him and they’re blazing through training ground forty-four! None of us can get close, they’re rather-er-electric, sir.” In the distance, a ground shaking roar and the pierce of shattering glass.

Kakashi sighs, exasperated, there goes his lunch break.

_______

It’s been a long eight months since they’ve left the village.

Correction, it’s a been a long, horrible, headache inducing eight months since they’d left the village. Sasuke can’t even complain, he’s stronger than he’s ever been before and learning in leaps and bounds. But, just cause he can’t complain, doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to. It’s like, for every advancement team 7 makes in their training, Jiraiya has to take an equal amount of time to gallivant through some brothel, onsen, or some other “fine” establishment.

Today is one such time, the perverted old man’s giggling could be heard from the street outside the brothel he currently inhabits. Team 7 had vacate the premise immediately, searching out something more age appropriate to entertain themselves with.

Like murder.

The three pre-teens had traveled fifteen miles up the road to the next town over, Sunflower Pointe. The quaint little village aptly named for the fields, and fields of sunflowers growing on the hills outside their little gates. Sunflower Pointe had apparently been getting harassed by a bandit troupe lead by a missing nin of some renown. They didn’t have enough money to hire from Konoha directly, but Team 7 had time to kill and no money for dinner so it was a win-win either way.

The skirmish had been short but bloody, the missing nin having taken the time to actually train up some of his cohorts. In the end they troupe was dead, but Sasuke had sustained a horrifically deep wound to his leg. Truly it was his own fault, he’d been cocky, not paying enough attention, and been knifed for his stupidity.

Sasuke took a moment to marvel at his hard earned, slow growing, humility. He can hardly believe he’s actually in a good enough place to admit to his own faults.

That brings him to now, losing blood fast and skin quickly paling to match the cooling corpses around them. Thankfully their luck hasn’t run out yet, a familiar face appearing in their time of great need as it were.

Namely one Senju Tsunade, Slug Sage and sort of friend to that perverted toad. The woman had stormed into the clearing not minutes after Sasuke had collapsed from his leg wound, belligerent and nagging as she wrestled him around into a proper position and began to treat him.

Distantly the Uchiha knew that Tsunade was a legendary healer, though he’d only ever personally witness the woman shatter a small mountain with her bare fists. The first time they’d met her she had caught Jiraiya trying to peep on the women’s bath. The same bath she was using. Honestly, Jiraiya is very lucky she missed on her first swing.

Now, lying prone under her glowing hands, Sasuke realizes where her true power lies. He watches as the woman seals shut what would’ve been a deadly wound with just a touch and an easy application of chakra. It’s a soft, unobtrusive green, soothing and calm. For all of Tsunade’s gruff, blunt personality, for all taht she can break mountains with her fists, it’s clear that she wields this gentle power well, and with great pride.

It feels familiar, a warm and gentle power. It feels like love.

“Teach me.”

The Sage cuts off her lecture with an indignant splutter, shock turning into anger and then swinging back into shock.

“W-what?! Brat, I don’t know who you think you are, but strength training is not-“

“Not that.” Sasuke watches her glowing hands intently, transfixed but their warmth. “I want to learn more about that.”

Tsunade blinks, seeing something in his face that makes her pause.

There’s power there, and it’s not the cold, dark, hungry thing he’s so used to.

_______

Time passes, months and days and years passing by in a pleasant blur. Mayu happily juggles hanging out with Megumi and Genki when they’re in village, teaching Sai how to be human, bothering Haru-sensei whenever she can manage to sneak into the Hyuuga compound, playing with Gaara before he’d been shipped back to Suna, and bullying her dad into actually doing his paperwork and not pawning it off onto unsuspecting paper nin.

Delegation is one thing, but letting a Genin corp. paper pusher sign off on new legislation is just bad form.

Mayu is thirteen as of yesterday, and her once happy, peaceful life is rudely interrupted by the horrors of life once more.

Puberty.

Namely, the Hatake’s ramped up, hormone laiden, feral roar, version of puberty.

Mayu thinks she’d have the decency to be both embarrassed for herself, and pitiful of her dad if she had the mental capacity to feel any stable emotion for more than five minutes. A normal interaction in her little family goes a little something like this:

Mayu howls, and it’s a wrathful wretched thing. Gai is strategically not in village at the moment, and Kakashi can only curse him from afar, hopeful that this current series of events will not last too long.

“Mayu, please! Don’t do anything stupid!” Kakashi had just awoken not twenty minutes ago. Coming out to the living room to find his precious, thirteen year old daughter already half feral, thirsting for blood, lost in the throes of puberty. Just beyond her crazed form, Kakashi can spy Sai hiding on top of the fridge.

Puberty, truly every Hatake’s greatest enemy.

“Your faceis stupid!” Her violet eyes are promise violence, her snarl guttural. Mayu’s face does something funny then, and she abruptly starts sobbing. Big, crocodile tears and full body shudders.

“I-I’m sorry I c-called you stupid!” Kakashi’s head spins at the extreme mood swings.

“…It’s alright Mayu.” He reaches out, as if to pull her into his arms, only to flinch back as her mood swings again.

“NO IT’S NOT!”

“Why are you angry again!?”

Two days later, after Kakashi has determinedly locked down the house to keep any mad daughters from wreaking havoc, Sai’s voice goes through several, hilarious, syllables of pitched cracking in the middle of their conversation.

Kakashi cries internally.

Not another one!