sixteen.
Today was a day for surprises it seemed.
Danzo-sama’s bandages had been discarded, the eye that normally stayed hidden behind them was shining in the dim office.
“Get me a replacement for this right eye of mine.”
Ikaru remained kneeling silent, as did Kinoe beside her. Through the holes of her mask, she could not see any change in his posture, and his chakra stayed the same. He was unaffected by the reveal.
She felt slightly hysterical herself, but she would set the implications aside for later. She needed mission focus for now. Obviously, they could not just pluck an eye from any Uchiha, Danzo-sama had someone in mind. The classroom-like structure of this mission meeting was uncomfortable, she was used to direct orders and clear missions. She didn’t like the way Danzo-sama dangled the answers in front of them, waiting for them to say it themselves. Too much room for interpretation, too much room for error. Was this how all of Kinoe-senpai's missions went?
“We will need to prepare if we are to attack a member of the Uchiha Clan.” Kinoe intones.
Ikaru bit her lip under her mask. How awkward. Well if he wasn’t going to say it, “Hatake Kakashi. He has few connections and has enough controversy surrounding him that his death wouldn’t be looked at too closely.”
Danzo-sama nodded in approval. Kinoe’s chakra did an odd flip.
She wasn’t sure why she had been summoned for a personal meeting at first, but she could now see her role in this. The Hatake was a notable figure in the village, he wouldn’t be hard to locate, and Kinoe would take him down. She swallowed, trying to clear the sudden dryness in her mouth. No matter what rumors said about how Hatake acquired that eye, taking it from him would still be Kekkei Genkai theft. One of the highest crimes in the shinobi world.
Why did Danzo-sama have one?
“Then we won’t need to worry about any future trouble from the Uchiha. Dismissed.” Danzo-said. The most unclear and second most stressful meeting she’d ever attended was over, and she followed Kinoe out.
When Kinoe broke the silence that hung over them as they traveled from the office to one of the many tunnels leading into the village, she had already started searching outward for ration natures.
“We will locate him first, and wait for an opportunity.” He said, seeming aware of how flimsy that plan sounded. His green chakra was still doing uneasy flips, she tuned it out in favor of narrowing down Raiton-heavy signatures with summons within the bounds of the village.
“He’s in the village,” Ikaru said after a beat. Kinoe glanced toward her in a silent question. “Memorial sector, in the public war cemetery.” She clarified. “He isn’t making much of an effort to hide.” Raiton nature, the distinct mark of a summoner contract, mismatched Sharingan, near empty reserves, and a cloud of regretful sorrow. Hatake Kakashi was not the most subtle of signatures. He was good at cloaking, he had to be for Anbu, but weirdly enough he never tried to hide when he visited the memorial.
She considered whether to address her captain’s noticeable (to her) discomfort as she grabbed supplies. Was this important enough to undermine his authority as captain? When they met again outside the base and continued onward to Hatake’s location she decided it was just too awkward to mention. Ikaru wasn’t really in a place to point out others’ lapse in composure. It’s not like it was harming the mission right? So she kept it to herself as they approached the target’s signature.
“Whose grave is that?” Asked Kinoe-senpai quietly. His chakra was muffled so the uneasy nature of his signature was ignorable, but it had her questioning if he was the right person to lead this mission. She was uncomfortable with the mission as well, but Shinobi didn’t have the right to decide the morality of a job, especially not Foundation shinobi. Missions were missions, no matter how much they made your stomach turn.
“Nohara Rin, the teammate he killed.” She answered in a whisper. “From previous observations, we know he spends a lot of time here. He seems despondent but I doubt this is the best opportunity for attack, he may be more difficult to restrain if fueled by emotions.” Hopefully, the remainder of the mission would keep him on task. Kinoe was too spacey, not grounded like he normally was.
Another Anbu, also maskless, approached the grave. Ikaru was a little disappointed by their lack of subtlety. Anbu was supposed to be their equal, and they walked around with uncloaked chakra and no masks. It wasn’t really a secret that Hatake was in Anbu, but the newcomer shouldn’t be so blase either.
“Senpai.” She spoke up once the two anbu left. “I believe you to be someone worth trusting. I hope you feel the same. So I say this as a friend, I think I should take point until it’s time to go on the offensive. I have missions like this often, and you are emotionally compromised right now.” She said it bluntly, and hoped it wasn’t too far.
He shifted slightly to acknowledge her. Their eyes met, the thin slits of her Finch mask meeting the wide slots in his Cat mask. While he is her superior, he is also an ally. Ikaru considered him to be the one shinobi in Root worth having a connection with. Beyond his lack of a seal, the kind nature of his chakra made her want to trust him. And she did trust him, perhaps foolishly.
“Are you familiar with Hatake?” Ikaru was only guessing, but his nod confirmed it. “What would you say about his character then?”
He paused for a minute, “Kakashi-san is a loyal shinobi.” He turned to look at the Anbu’s retreating back through the trees.
Great.
After about two days of tailing Hatake and anxiously trying to decide if his aimless wandering was a ploy to shake them off his trail or just his normal behavior, she decided they should pull back for a bit and wait for him to leave the village. Eventually he was given a mission and they followed him to an abandoned lair of the Sannin Orochimaru. They debated briefly on who would first confront Hatake at the research facility. They decided that Kinoe alone would be the one to confront Hatake.
This plan did not last long.
An explosion shook the ground not long after they touched down on the forest surrounding the partially hidden entrance. Kinoe ran out to Hatake’s position, Ikaru hot on his heels.
Ikaru prepared to release the coils of chakra conductive ninja wires wrapped around her wrists as they entered the dust cloud. Hatake usually used raiton justu, if she could get her wires out before Hatake started his infamous chidori justu she could turn the jutsu back on him hopefully then Kinoe could finish the job-
“Kinoe! Is that you?”
A voice called from the dark, coughing. Without pausing Kinoe replied “It’s been a while Kakashi-san,” showing no indication that he had abandoned their plan. Had he seen something that she hadn’t? She would trust him for now. The dust settled and she saw Kinoe lend a hand to Hatake. Lure him into a false sense of security? And what’s with the first-name basis?
“And your friend back there?” Ack. She had thought that this amount of cloaking was enough to hide. She would stamp it down further for the duration of this mission.
“My partner Ikaru.” Kinoe introduced her, getting rid of that issue for her.
Ikaru stepped forward, picking her way gracefully through the rock that crowded the collapsed entrance. The same hysteria that had been steadily building for three days felt very present in her mind.
“What are you doing here?” He addressed Kinoe first, then turned to keep Ikaru in view of his Sharingan, “Are you two my backup?” Hatake asked casually, his eyes flickering back and forth between Kinoe and Ikaru as he cataloged their appearances. He didn’t wait for an answer, continuing on to say, “No, that’s not it. Did Danzo-sama dispatch one of his foundation shinobi because he’s interested in Orochimaru’s research facility?”
He said it like he was sharing a joke and was waiting for a laugh. He was very at ease in the company of two unknowns, probably because he knew he was correct. The two foundation shinobi were silent and tense.
They were here for a very different reason, something Hatake was probably aware of. Ikaru was focusing on a different part though, what he meant by Danzo-sama being interested in Orochimaru’s lab.
That was unsettling.
Not because it was a surprise, but because it was entirely true. Ikaru had purposefully ignored the implications of many aspects of her job for years.
Shinobi didn’t get missions so they could ponder over them, they got missions because missions had to be done. Danzo-sama did many things but they were all for the benefit of Konohagakure.
These were the thoughts she recited to herself over and over because the alternatives reminded her too much of cherry red coals on her tongue and fire pouring from her skin.
“Foundation shinobi never talk about their missions, is that it? Don’t worry about it, you helped me out here,” He gestured toward the rubble surrounding them.
“We can’t have you burnt to a crisp, Kakashi-san,” Kinoe said sincerely. The delivery was too forced to be funny, but knowing Kinoe-senpai, that was probably his best attempt at a joke. Ikaru wanted to bury her face in her hands.
“Right.” Hatake deadpanned. He looked disappointed. “Do you want to investigate the lab together? Whatever information we find we’ll share and agree to never speak of this again?”
Kinoe rubbed at the chin of his mask, exaggerating his body language like he was weighing the offer closely. Ikaru felt that his stalling was going on too long and answered for him.
“Agreed, Hatake-san. Different divisions mean nothing when we have the same goal. I am a sensor type, I should be able to help avoid any future traps.” She says, stepping past Hatake and into the threshold of the bunker. The air becomes much colder, and already she sees the remnants of seals for sanitation and silencing. “Though, I doubt there are any more like that one.”
In her experience that was the case, explosive tags on doors were not common in the labs cleared out by the Foundation. Most of the labs Orochimaru had used when he deserted the village but still had contact with Danzo-sama had been found and cleared. This bunker hadn’t been found yet because it wasn’t connected to any of the tunnels.
“That would be appreciated,” Hatake said, following her in. Kinoe brought up the rear as they filed through the hallway. He held a kunai in hand.
They entered the first door they came upon after Ikaru verified there were no traps. The heavy metal door swung open on silent hinges revealing a room strewn with papers and tables covered in clutter.
“Seems like he left in a hurry,” commented Hatake. He picked up a stack of papers and squinted at them, “What was he doing here anyway? Probably just what he does best.” He scoffed, dropping the papers in disgust.
“Human test subjects?” Kinoe muttered under his breath.
Hatake was being talkative. Likely he was trying to fish for more information from his surprise mission partners. The papers he just dropped contained nothing but supply lists, unrelated to human tests. Ikaru had no problem with giving him information. He would be dead by the end of the day anyway.
“Actually Hatake, this facility was for animal experimentation,” She offered. In the interest of looking like she was actually providing backup for Hatake’s mission, she grabbed a storage scroll from her hip pouch to store any important-looking documents she came across.
“You can just call me Kakashi.”
“Ah, no thank you Hatake-san.”
She ignored the soft sigh from the man. Ikaru refused to be on a first-name basis with the mission objective.
Kinoe-senpai did not even attempt to look like he was on an information raid mission. In fact, when she turned around he was just staring at a tangle of beakers and scientific equipment she couldn’t name. His chakra was roiling, twisting, and turning like the branches of his Mokuton Jutsu. Was he that conflicted over their mission? So much so that he couldn’t even pretend to be on a mission?
“I don’t think there’s anything else in here,” Hatake said. “Let's go.”
“Kinoe.”
The boy jolted from his reverie and followed the others out. Ikaru nodded, tucking the storage seal back into her hip pouch. Other doors in the hall were left open, showing similar rooms. While Hatake tried the knobs for other doors, Ikaru grabbed documents from the already open rooms. Kinoe glanced at her as she passed, and she split off from their group.
While Kinoe unlocked a door with the Mokuton, sparking a tense conversation with Hatake, she stayed behind. Now that Kinoe-senpai was in position to acquire the sharingan her role in the mission was over. She could return to base now.
Ikaru looked around herself noting the fuinjutsu still scrawled on the walls and the dim chakra glow of life. She could continue her false mission of ‘gathering information’, and start clearing out the Lab. It would give her a head start on a mission she would probably get assigned later anyway.
The air here was cold and heavy with chakra remnants from forgotten experiments. Despite the cold, it was humid enough that a thin condensation had formed on the surface of her mask. Ikaru turned and watched the blips of chakra off in the distance for a moment, then unclipped her mask to wipe the condensation off. Ikaru tuned out the rising tension of her temporary mission partners for now and started shifting through the things Orochimaru-sama deemed unimportant enough to leave.
She kept her mask off, the cold was making her face oily and uncomfortable. Without the mask keeping her hair in place some of her hair loosened from her ponytail.
She tensed as a clang echoed in the hall and the shinobis’ signatures rose.
Should she leave now? She decided not to and continued looking through files. The muffled shouts and pops of dispelled chakra were largely ignorable. She would wait to leave with her captain, just in case he needed assistance.
However, she was starting to regret this decision. Alone in this room and away from the heat of the main mission objective she had only her own doubtful thoughts to occupy her.
Why did Danzo-sama have one?
This was the most pressing question.
One of the chief rules of being a Shinobi was to not question the morality of your actions. If you thought about things too much, it would overwhelm you. Shinobi had dirty hands, and that was a fact. Even so, there were things that were definitely Wrong. For the Hidden Leaf, home to over 213 clans and some of the most feared and revered Kekkei Genkai in the shinobi world, Bloodline Theft was a death sentence.
Hatake Kakashi was not a Uchiha, but he did not steal the eye. It was given to him, this much Ikaru knows. Though she may not remember it, most of the village remembered the political debacle. The Future Hokage’s personal student was given a Sharingan by his teammate, and the Uchiha clan begrudgingly allowed it. While Hatake was not born with that eye, no one could deny that it was his.
Taking it from him was, well, Wrong.
This is why her mission was so conflicting.
Danzo-sama was asking them to do something Wrong. She was not unaware that not all of Root’s actions were good. Even now, she held records of failed attempts to recreate bloodlines and experiments aimed to artificially increase chakra output. It wasn’t like Ikaru didn’t know that her job was bad. But it wasn’t her place to decide that, shinobi weren’t supposed to decide that. But in the face of clear laws against bloodline theft, her flimsy argument crumbled. If Danzo-sama would cross this line, what others would he cross?
And that was her second worry.
To her knowledge, the rumor about the Uchiha controlling the Nine Tails on that night was only that, a rumor. She knew it was started by the Foundation to provoke more negative feelings against the police force and the Uchiha Clan. Ikaru knew it was only a rumor, but all the best rumors had a grain of truth.
Sharingan could control tailed beasts and their containers.
Was Danzo-sama planning something with Naruto?
Why did he need a new eye?
If the Sharingan’s power was needed for the good of the village, then Hokage-sama would just command the Uchiha in his command. Danzo-sama was being secretive.
Why?
Her heart was pounding now, and she jolted as the walls around her shook. She abandoned her meaningless task and focused on the fight.
Kinoe-senpai was… Losing.
A bead of sweat trickled down her forehead, she clenched her fists. Hatake’s chakra reserves were low, but the chakra was tinged with Anger and Betrayal. These were expected. Kinoe however, was all wrong. His normally calm plant-like signature was screaming, confusion and anger and sorrow, and he was eating into his chakra reserves with reckless abandon.
Blinding streaks of lightning and twisting Branches warred in the background, the shouts growing louder.
She should slip out now, just sink into the earth and run back to base. Something kept her back though.
She did not want Kinoe-senpai to die.
She didn’t want him to kill Hatake-san either.
Ikaru stayed in the room, digging her nails into her palms hard enough to leave bruises, the memory of Failure keeping her from moving. Kinoe was special, her superior could afford to make mistakes. He could fail his mission and still be in Danzo-sama’s favor, Ikaru didn’t have that luxury. If she threw the mission, she wouldn’t even make it out of the base before the seal fried her brains.
So there she stayed. Watching from afar as the battle was interrupted by some awakened experiment and left only Kinoe conscious.
Disgusted by her inability to move, and her morbid desire to see the mission carried out she waited for Kinoe to leave with the Sharingan.
But he never did.
Ikaru looked to the unconscious anbu on the floor; still in possession of both eyes, the note pinned to the wall with a kunai, to the fleeing signature of her mission leader, and back to the note pinned on the wall. She yanked the kunai from the wall and squinted at the paper.
Kakashi-san, I’ve become confused about my mission where I am supposed to kill a friend. So I’m going to abandon this mission, and I will report to Lord Danzo that I failed.
Please take care. -Kinoe
It was pretty damning evidence. Kinoe didn’t just fail, he had abandoned the mission. He left her behind too.
Holding the note in hand still, she nudged the still form with her shoe. Still out cold.
Ikaru felt surprisingly calm about all this. “Hatake-san.” She called.
No response.
Ikaru crouched down next to Hatake, he would probably stab her if she woke him up so she elected to wait for him to wake. She made sure that her signature would be detectable so he would startle and stab her anyway.
Eventually, he stirred and shot up.
“Hatake-san.” She greeted calmly, holding out the message. “Kinoe-senpai left a message for you.”
Hatake’s Sharingan zeroed in on her, taking in the lack of a mask and killing intent. His breaths evened out and his chakra went deadly calm. His sharingan was less unnerving than Danzo-sama’s.
“Why.” He asked flatly.
That could have meant anything but she assumed he meant, why was he not eyeless and or dead, and answered accordingly.
“The Foundation cannot tell of their missions, so I will explain as far as I am permitted to. Kinoe had his task, which he abandoned. I had a task, which I completed. I have no intention of killing you Hatake-san.”
“That’s nice,” He scoffed, already standing up again. Ikaru craned her neck to look up at him, staying crouched on the ground with her arms wrapped around her knees. “I’m leaving. Are you going to be in my way?”
“No.” She shook her head and smiled wanly. “Kinoe said you are a good shinobi. I believe him. I hope you will be able to help him.”
She felt like being bold. Maybe she was being caught up in the energy of Kinoe’s rebellion, but she found that she didn’t care.
“He said that?” He said incredulously. He didn’t deny his intention to help Kinoe.
“In so many words. Before you go Hatake-san, you should know that the Foundation has more than one entrance.”
His gaze sharpened, and he started to leave. “Thanks, Ikaru.”
“Ei.” She said quickly. All of a sudden, it seemed very important that she said this out loud. Her wan smile widened, “My name is Ei.”
I am not my mask.
I have a name.
He blinked and nodded in acknowledgment.
As she watched his static-storm-grey signature leave, she raised her fingers to touch the corners of her smile. She exhaled harshly and all at once, her breath coming out as a shaky laugh.
She had a headache now. Her small burst of courage hadn't left her yet, and she laughed a little louder. “My name is Ei.” She whispered. It was far too late for Hatake to hear the reply, but it wasn’t really for him anyway.
She giggled to herself.
Such a simple thing, but it sounded so delightful to say out loud.
By using as many shortcuts as she could and pushing the limits of her Hiding in the Earth jutsu, she made it back to base in time to see Kinoe’s signature turn down the path leading to Danzo-sama’s office.
She dropped down from the tunnel ceiling in the lower right sector, landing in a crouch. As soon as both feet were on the ground she started running. She kept her focus solely on Kinoe and the fuinjutsu leading her way. The path to Danzo’s office had long ago been memorized and she didn’t need a light.
Ei skidded as she turned a corner, Kinoe’s chakra spiked in Alarm, and she used chakra-fueled steps to go faster. If Kinoe was reporting a failed mission, she should be at the report as well. She would be late, but hopefully, the amount of information she had collected earlier would be enough to make sure the mission was not a complete failure. Maybe Danzo-sama would be pleased enough that it would lessen his ire against Kinoe-senpai!
If she had read Hatake’s intent correctly, he would try to help Kinoe leave. Bring him to light- or something. Kinoe was bright, light and kind and green in the dim of this cold place. He was special, if the Hokage knew about Kinoe then he wouldn’t leave him to rot in the dark, Hokage-sama would free him.
She was aware that she was perhaps projecting a bit. She wanted to be free. Ei wanted to be in the light, but she wasn’t special. So she would do as much as she could to get Kinoe out.
While she wasn’t quite sure what it meant to be friends, she considered Kinoe-senpai to be an ally. When your allies are in trouble, you help them out. Then maybe, maybe one day he could return the favor.
Any failure would set back her schedule, and she had promised a little boy some lunch. Ei hurriedly fixed her hair into a neater ponytail as she came to the last set of stairs leading to Danzo-sama’s office. Stone walls gave way to traditional shoji panels, and the fuinjutsu lights were replaced by dim electric lighting. She took the storage scroll and held it in her hand as she nodded to the shinobi guarding the door.
The woman standing outside the door returned her nod and pushed open the door behind her.
Ei entered with her head bowed, the feeling of passing through the silencing barrier washed over her-
“What is this?” A harsh shout rang in her ears, and she lifted her head.
Without glancing back at her Kinoe answered. “I beg your pardon Danzo-sama. I failed my mission.” He was kneeling on one knee, head not quite bowed but staring ahead at the floor.
“If you truly failed your mission then it was my fault for underestimating Hatake. However, you abandoned your mission, poorly faked his death, and returned with this.”
Danzo-sama’s voice shook with anger, never before had she heard such raw emotion in his tone. He had something clenched in his fist, and as Ei approached to kneel beside Kinoe he cast to the ground.
She flinched as it shattered. Something rolled across the floor. It came to a stop at her feet, a wooden ball.
Not just a wooden ball, she realized, but a crude copy of a Sharingan eye. Her sharp intake of breath was cut off quickly, and her lips pressed into a grim line.
“And you!” Danzo’s ire turned to her, “Did I not send two on this mission?”
Her thoughts stuttered and her prepared excuses for being late withered in the force of his glare. Kinoe continued to stare definitely at the floor, while Ei was trapped in Danzo’s gaze.
She had thought Kinoe would just report a failed mission. He wasn’t sealed, he could easily lie without consequence! This was stupid, how could he make such an obvious error?
“What was your intention, Kinoe?” Danzo practically growled as he ground the tip of his cane into the floor.
No, she thought, seeing Kinoe stare past Danzo at the floor. It was a message.
Kinoe was trying to leave.
“Hatake Kakashi is a loyal Shinobi of the Leaf.” The boy bit out. “He is a Leaf Comrade. Is it right to kill a friend?”
“Why do you consider one from outside of the foundation a friend?”
“Isn’t the Foundation a friend of the Leaf?” countered Kinoe. His argument was drifting dangerously close to Ei’s own thoughts.
“The Foundation is a unique organization that supports the large tree known as the Konohagakure, from deep underground. Just as a tree is divided into what is above and below ground, the Foundation has its own existence.” He tapped his cane once. “Ikaru, what is a Foundation shinobi?”
She straightened. “Shinobi of the Foundation have no names. No emotion. No past. No future. We have only our missions.” The phrase was said so often by other shinobi she had no problem reciting it. Even if she no longer quite agreed.
“As the Foundation’s head, my will is absolute!” He bashed his cane down again, Ei couldn’t hold back her flinch this time. Her partner did not move, staring at the floor intently.
“Are you listening, Kinoe!?” He shouted fruitlessly.
Kinoe jolted, then stood up and slashed his arm through the air. “No! My name is not Kinoe!” He was nearly chest-to-chest with Danzo-sama, and with them standing so close he looked small compared to the looming figure of Danzo.
“What is this?” Danzo muttered lowly.
Ei stayed kneeling. She didn’t know whether to pull Kinoe back down beside her or join him but stayed, prepared to do either.
“Kinoe is the destination given to you. What other name could you have besides that temporary one?”
“Tenzo!” He blurted.
She felt like she was missing something.
Kinoe finally broke eye contact, and he looked off to the side. She couldn’t see his face past the curtain of brown hair.
“I am a shinobi of the Hidden Leaf.” He muttered. “A shinobi of the Hidden Leaf! Which has trees- and branches, everyone is my comrade!” He grew louder as he spoke, gaining confidence and turning back to shout the last part at Danzo-sama.
Ei was starting to get lost in the tree metaphors. People aren’t leaves, Villages aren’t trees. This was real life. He was breathing heavily, sweat breaking out on his brow. His chakra shook with righteous fury, and she was afraid for him. She stood, hand reaching out as if to pull him back.
Danzo cursed under his breath. “What made you turn against us?” He uncovered the bandages covering his eye.
In the span of the blink, Ei saw a Kinoe’s chakra stutter and blip out.
He fell to the floor in a heap too fast for her to catch, and she stifled a scream. Half a beat passed, and she saw the chakra network sluggishly begin to move again. She didn’t breath again until she saw the tenketsu near his brain flare back to life.
“Take him to the treatment room. Have him bound with a curse mark.”
She turned from her friend to Danzo-sama’s retreating back so fast her vision blurred.
Ei couldn’t force herself to haul Kinoe- Tenzo? - to the medical bay. Since the order did not directly address her, she left the task up to the guard at the door and fled.
She was unsurprised when Hatake came to free his friend.
She was only slightly bitter that Kinoe left without turning back.
She knew he would leave, and she was glad he escaped.
Ei just wished she could have come too.
“Tatsumi-nee!”
“Naruto!”
“Hey, hey! Lookit!”, The boy stopped in front of her with his chest puffed out proudly. “I got taller!”
Ei stopped as well, leaning close and examining him with exaggerated hums. Naruto giggled when Ei walked a circle around him, considering him from every angle.
“I must agree Uzumaki-san. You have gotten much taller.” She concluded. She said so in a high posh accent that Naruto attempted to mimic with limited success. He giggled every time he stumbled over the high speech and eventually gave up.
Once they had stopped giggling ‘Tatsumi’ continued her stroll in a random direction, this time with Naruto following close behind. She had carefully planned the route the day before. Partly just because she liked shopping and partly to build up her Tatsumi cover more, she was making sure to visit certain places every time she was in the village. It wasn’t hard to create a ‘persona’ for Tatsumi, she just acted as she would have if she wasn’t branded.
The route was also carefully planned so that she would bump into Naruto every time. Today was the third time she ‘just so happened’ to meet Naruto while she was on her own errands. As she made her purchases for her teacher, (a convenient cover and an excuse to buy more notebooks), she and Naruto talked the entire way.
They discussed her travels and the cool bugs they had seen. Ei talked about her stern sensei and the accountant work she did. Naruto complained about the police-guy who stopped his ‘super-awesome’ paint trap.
Ei ignored the glares that followed her as she entered bookstores and stationary stores with practiced ease. She had done so before. Naruto hesitated when entering the first shop, so she took his hand and they walked in together. Ei stared blankly at the owner who dared raise the price until the man took her money, chagrined. After that, Naruto grew more confident and happily started talking again.
The reason she had given for staying out of the village so much was this. She was apprenticing under an accountant, who had a contract with the Taki Group, who despite the name, were a guild of tea merchants based in Fire. It gave a convenient excuse for time away, and an explanation for all the traveling she did inside Fire. It was easy to keep up with too, all she had to do was show up in a big trade town every couple of months and replace the genjutsu on the accountant every once in a while. She had always been good with numbers, and it was similar enough work to her actual duties that she could complain about shinobi work without revealing anything.
Once she took her purchases to the counter and paid, they stopped in a park to eat. While she was in here she made sure to stuff Naruto with as much food as she could. He looked too skinny.
“When’d you have to leave?”
“Sooner than I had hoped,” Ei frowned. “Someone in the guild left and he made a mess of things. I might have to leave a day early to help make up for his absence.”
He was a sore subject in the Foundation. No one was saying anything about him. His spot in Danzo-sama’s inner guard was yet to be filled.
“Aww,” He pouted, “What did he do? Was he bad at his job?”
“He was very good at it. He just, decided our group wasn’t the best fit for him.”
“What is a-counting anyway? Do you count people’s money?” Naruto asked.
“Accounting.” She corrected gently. “Pretty much. I organize payments, bills, and old debts. Some people have so much money they can’t keep track of it, so they pay other people to write it all down for them.”
Naruto scrunched his nose, “Sounds like a lotta math.”
“It is,” Ei confirmed. “That’s why I study under a senior accountant. One day when I’ve learned all that I can I’ll leave and join another group.” The boy at her side was quiet for a moment too long, she glanced over at him in question.
“Would you still come back?” Naruto asked, sounding a little uncertain. Ei turned around and made sure to make eye contact with the boy.
“Definitely. But, you know what? I’ll probably just go home after I finish my contract. I don’t want to be an accountant.”
Naruto made a questioning noise. “Where’s your home?”
“Well I’ve been gone so long I’m not really sure if it is home anymore, but I used to live here. I wouldn’t mind living in the village again.” She looked around her, to the curved roofs and dirt roads, the whispers of Hashirama trees watching over their village.
“If you lived here we could play every day!”
“That would be fun wouldn’t it?”
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Ei, thinking about the life choices that led her here.
