"Look, I just need you to help me keep an eye on them. Gato will find out today and be pissed. I just don't know what he'll do."
There was an unhappy grunt.
"But this works for us. If someone else is doing the visible work of opposing Gato, we can stay hidden," Aiko cajoled.
"Yes," Utakata agreed unhappily. "I see that. If another team receives credit for our work, how are we to be paid?"
Aiko waved that off. "We will be. Anyway, the team is harmless right now. Their Jounin is unconscious. The remainder is three genin."
Outrage fled over her partner's face. His spine straightened. "Konoha sent inexperienced children against Momochi Zabuza." His voice dropped from flat to subzero.
'Of course not! Konoha is merely incompetent enough to have no idea he's operating in the area.'
She made a queasy expression that wasn't quite a smile. Hmm. She abandoned the expression. "Maa, they're probably not trying to kill the kids off."
There was an uncomfortable silence.
"You owe me." Utakata bit that out like it was a statement of fact and not up for debate.
Aiko didn't quite have the energy to smile at how crotchety he was. She pursed her lips and nodded. "Fine. Just don't let the kids die while I'm gone."
Her partner huffed in disgust. "I'm not incompetent." Utakata tapped the book in his hand against his thigh. "It will be no challenge to turn aside whatever troubles genin might encounter."
"That's the spirit." She rubbed at her face with the back of a hand. "I'll hurry."
Aiko left without another word, en route for the town closest to Tazuna-san's home. There was so much to do that she felt a little nauseous.
She wasn't with team seven. Not only that, but Naruto didn't appear to know she existed.
The best response she could think of that was a sort of internal screaming peppered by question marks, so it was best not to linger.
There was no longer any internal debate. She had to get into Konoha, because there was nowhere else she could get answers.
'Danzou. I wouldn't put it past Danzou to snatch up a Hokage's kid if she was left alone. Or Orochimaru- he was still in Konoha when I was an infant. He's brazen.'
Actually, there was any number of terrifying things that could happen to an orphan in Konoha.
'This isn't a productive line of thought,' Aiko told herself, keeping an eye out for a likely looking store. One appeared: a nearly deserted building that was at least thirty years old. She spotted the proprietor reading behind the counter. Perfect. 'Focus on what I can affect in the near future.'
So. She had to get into Konoha. Her earlier thought still rang true: she would receive far too much scrutiny if she petitioned for entry. They would find that incredibly suspicious and conduct an exhaustive review of her background and psychological profile. Unacceptable.
That meant she had to force Konoha to approach her, so that they would believe she had no agenda and make concessions to persuade her into the fold. She had to be appealing and relatively nonthreatening. And she had to use the resources she had to do it: team seven.
'At least I know Kakashi. I know how he works and thinks. I'll let him discover a shinobi is lurking about, investigate me, and then miraculously find out I am an Uzumaki. He'll leave, but he'll take that information to the Sandaime along with whatever impressions he has of me. So they have to be the right impressions.'
She wasn't going to lie to him any more than she had to. He was too good for that.
When she walked in, the proprietor was attentive and smiling. "Welcome! Can I help you find anything?"
\Aiko demurred. "I'm just looking, shopkeep-san. How long have you been here?" She ran her fingers up a display, watching his reaction out of her peripheral.
He closed his book on a finger. "Well, I've been running the shop by myself for the last fifteen years, since my wife passed."
'That's a long time. Works for me.'
"Oh. I see." She turned to face him directly. Aiko blinked open the Rinnegan and caught the poor man in a spell. "You remember me. My mother and I bought our groceries from you for years, but you haven't seen either of us in a while. She came to this island when she was a teenager, but you never really knew her. When pressed, you will be somewhat certain that her name is Kagome or Kaoru."
The elderly man was frozen stock still. Aiko dug a few coins out of her pocket and put them on the counter, feeling a little regretful. He didn't move.
'Kind of a shame I don't know a gentler way to weave a long term genjutsu.'
Well. He'd be fine. She left him to digest his new impression.
Establishing a cover was the first step to getting scouted by Konoha. They'd want to know where she'd come from- powerful shinobi didn't pop out of another dimension fully formed.
She caught several key people around town the same way, seeding vague impressions of generally uninteresting encounters with the woman who lived out in the country with her daughter and no husband. She didn't have a house out in the country to fit that story, but she couldn't Rinnegan one of those out of nothing. She'd work around it. Somehow.
'Fuck. Well. There's a stupid dimension full of large, angry kittens. Maybe there is a summoning dimension with houses.'
Aiko snorted, rubbing at her headache.
Okay, so that was a pretty big loose end and it was not going to be solved in any way she could think of off the top of her head.
Aiko gritted her teeth and tried to think her cover through. Maybe she'd missed something. She was an unaffiliated shinobi because her mother had fled Uzushiogakure at- Aiko counted quickly- fourteen and hid in Wave Country. Her mother had been deeply paranoid and only sought out missions when prompted by outright desperation. She had been reclusive- she had no strong friendships in town. Her mother- she'd call her Kagome, Aiko decided, Kagome had started taking Hikari out on missions at about twelve. Before that, she'd left Hikari with Tsunami-san when Kagome had to take missions or starve. That was why Tsunami-san was so familiar with her cover, despite the five year age difference.
'I need to get to Tazuna as well. Today, preferably, before he has too much opportunity to think about how strange my presence is or ask Tsunami-chan any questions.'
There was no one else who she absolutely had to put under genjutsu immediately, she thought.
What would Kakashi look into first?
He'd want to meet the fictional mother from Uzushiogakure. Pity, she'd passed away- Aiko squinted at the sun- a year ago. Hikari'd only started taking missions again after a few months of mourning. Konoha could check that work history if they really wanted and verify that a couple of brokers would recognize her.
'I need to genjutsu at least one or two job contacts so that they will indicate I have a longer operational history in the area,' Aiko decided.
She ended up flicking around the eastern coast of the continent, tracking down semi-plausible employers and convincing them that they'd met before. Those stories didn't need to be complex or complete: no one would willingly give out too much mission information.
'If my mother was from Uzushiogakure, I'd know a lot more about it.' Aiko stopped for late lunch at a roadside stall and ordered karaage. Maybe food would do something to settle the odd flip-flipping sensation in her head. 'I don't see how I can resolve that, exactly. I've never been there. Would looking around give me a little more legitimacy?'
The chicken was a little too salty, but Aiko ate it anyway. She waved down the shopowner for more tea, frowning darkly at the counter in thought.
'Tomorrow. I can try that first thing tomorrow. I'm tempted to take Utakata with me. The whirlpools are supposed to be really dangerous out there. But I can't quite justify leaving the kids without Jounin supervision.'
She paid her tab with a sigh and stretched.
'I'll just have to be careful. As long as I don't hit my head and pass out, I can always Hiraishin out of trouble.'
She'd made a lot of progress for one day. But there was one more errand she absolutely could not put off. Sakura-chan seemed surprised to see her back in the same day, but Tsunami-chan let her in without comment.
"Are you here for your laundry?" Tsunami-chan dried her hands on her apron, bustling through the kitchen. "I'm afraid I haven't had time to fold it-" She sat the full basket on the kitchen table.
"That's fine," Aiko assured. She eyed the clean laundry with intense satisfaction. The choice between re-wearing dirty clothes or stealing a new outfit everyday was untenable. Why hadn't she truly appreciated laundry facilities before? "Really, thank you so much. I'm afraid I'm having problems with the plumbing at home," she half-explained to Sakura. The girl made a polite sound of comprehension. Aiko fussed, smiling at Tsunami-chan. "I appreciate the help. Please, is there anything I can do?" She gestured to the house. "I know that you have a lot of work right now. I could take Tazuna-san's refreshments down, for example."
Tsunami-chan caught on to the prompting and nodded. "Of course, I'd nearly forgotten!" She pulled open the freezer. "I have a cooler that I could use. Sakura-san, do you think your teammates would like a treat? It's so hot out."
The pink-haired girl made a rude sound. Then she flushed, apparently shocked her mind-to-mouth filter was malfunctioning. "They'll love a treat, Tsunami-san!" Sakura flapped her hands. "They'll eat anything and everything."
Aiko made herself useful enough that Sakura wouldn't think anything was odd. In less than an hour, she hefted the cooler of sweetened strawberry treats on her hip. "Ja mata!" She beamed back at the house in the moments before Tsunami-chan let the door slip shut.
She took the walk at a civilian pace. She tried not to scowl too much at the dust and burrs that caught on her shoes. She shifted the cooler around when her arms began to ache.
The sounds of men at work reached her before sight. Hammering, clanking, and distant shouts painted the air.
Aiko closed her eyes and stopped for just a moment. She focused.
"-that right there"
"Watch it!"
"and me that would you-"
'Sounds a lot busier than I remember.'
She started forward decisively, a bright smile plastered on her face. "Hello!" Aiko waved at the first men she passed, noting a rather alarming amount of sweat. Ew. She kept her distance.
The workers exchanged glances. "Uh, hello." A younger man nodded in response, not quite making eye contact. He attempted to surreptitiously pull down the sleeves he had rolled up his shoulders.
Aiko stifled a snort. Tazuna was at the edge of the bay, directing work with a fierce attitude and a rolled up set of drawings. Naruto and Sasuke were harder to spot- she didn't manage to pick them out without looking too obviously. They were here somewhere. Had to be.
Tazuna-san's eyebrows shot up when she got his attention. He waved away the man he'd been speaking to, a thunderous scowl pulling his lips down.
"Who the hell are you now, lady?"
Aiko's eyes darted to either side. No one was positioned well enough to have a direct view of her face. She turned her body a little bit more and blinked on the Rinnegan for the nth time that day, feeling strain pull on her shoulders and neck muscles. "You remember me! Tazuna-san, I used to play with Tsunami-chan when my mother went off to work. I'm Hikari, Kagome's daughter."
His eyes glazed over. His face reddened. But he nodded in response. "That's right, isn't it? My wife always watched the two of you. I spent too much time working even then."
Aiko blinked off the Rinnegan. The world moved sideways, colors blurring. There was a hand reaching for her upper arm- she twisted away with a jerk.
"Watch it now!" Tazuna-san let his hand drop, grey brows drawn in concern.
She wasn't holding the cooler anymore-
'What the hell?'
Sasuke had her cooler, she realized. He was stepping backwards, dark eyes warily assessing but not terribly suspicious of her.
"Oh! I'm sorry." Aiko managed something that probably resembled a smile. "Just- suddenly felt lightheaded, that was all!"
'I must have overused the Rinnegan. Casting genjutsu is a much higher drain than just having it on.'
"Hn." Sasuke grunted, shoulders pulling up defensively.
There was a loud, victorious crowing. "Snacks for me? Share, teme!" And then Naruto was there, tugging violently on Sasuke's burden.
"Naruto!" Aiko snapped, appalled. His spine zinged into a straight line, along with that of the closest workman. "That was rude and I know you can do better. I don't want to hear that from you again."
Sasuke looked at her. Naruto looked at her, eyes wide with shock.
What?
Tazuna-san chuckled. "You sound like someone's mom, Hikari-chan." He ruffled her hair. "I think these two are a little old to be adopted. They're grown up ninja, after all!"
'They're children. They are immature and do not have the technical skills to operate without their Jounin sensei.'
She narrowed her eyes. She let her silence speak for her.
Tazuna-san kind of looked sideways and down, as if re-remembering just how short team seven was on average.
Sasuke looked down at his feet, scowling fiercely.
"Eat your snacks, boys," Aiko ordered, feeling powerful and adult. "You too, Tazuna-san." She shook a finger at him. "Tsunami-san is doing a lot of work at home. And so is your teammate." Her hand re-oriented on an alarmed looking twelve year old. "Thank them both. Someone else is going to stay home with Tsunami-san tomorrow to help around the house and with your sensei." Her tone left no room for disagreement.
Naruto nodded wordlessly, big blue eyes focused on her.
Sasuke was averting eye contact and his shoulders were pulling up towards his neck. But his body was facing directly towards her and he was clearly paying attention.
Aiko leveled them both with one last stern look and then nodded. "Well, I'm heading back. Have a good day at work."
The weird thing was that more than three cowed-sounding voices replied, 'Yes, ma'am'.
'Huh.'
The day was getting late enough that she should check in on Utakata and possibly relieve his watch. But… tomorrow. Tomorrow she'd go poke around Uzushiogakure to add some validity to her backstory. She had plenty of time before Kakashi would be waking up, but it would be best to get that out of the way.
His dreams were always the same when he had chakra exhaustion: a loop of great gasping sobs and Minato-sensei's putting his head in his hands and Kushina-san screaming at the Uchiha clan head and the horrible little gasp that Rin had made when his fist had gone through the back of her rib cage.
Kakashi woke with an aching back and the feeling that something was wrong.
He pushed off someone's soft futon and sat up.
Two unfamiliar scents in the room, plus all those of his students. A personal home, not an inn or safehouse. Late daylight. One two three unfamiliar chakra signatures in the vicinity and one of his students.
'Where are the other two?'
He used the wall to stand up. His muscles were in a pathetic state no med-nin would have allowed- sore and stiff. He patiently and precisely went through the motions of the shortest stretching regimen he knew. The exercises loosened his body enough that walking without giving away weakness was no great difficulty.
'I must not have been out as long as expected.'
The stairs were easily found. A female voice filtered up the stairs, diverted and muffled by hallways and paper screens.
"un, why don't you try the other worksheet first?"
He couldn't understand the response, but it was a childish whine.
Naruto laughed, boisterous and light.
Something in his spine relaxed at the sound of his student's voice. He sounded fine. Happy. Safe.
Kakashi frowned, gripping the doorway at the bottom of the stairs. The wooden frame creaked under his fingers. Safe? Why was he worried about that? Zabuza had been killed and then taken away by that hunter-nin. His students could handle interference from civilians. Civilians didn't operate like shinobi or anticipate-
He let go of the doorway before he caused property damage. Painful spasms ran up the muscle group connecting his fingers and forearm.
Of course. Shinobi operations were on his mind because what he'd seen had been a blatant failure in procedure. That hunter nin had taken Zabuza's body away. And he had been alone. Hunter nin worked in teams.
Kakashi slouched in pursuit of Naruto's voice as fast as possible.
"Sensei!" Naruto twisted to beam relief up at him without dropping the knife he held to a red chopping board. "Hey, hey, we were starting to think you were never going to wake up! You slept for almost two weeks, old man!"
The woman who was standing watch over something bubbling on the stove made a vague approving sound without turning around. The other woman in the room, a brunette, was leaning over a wide-cheeked toddler seated at the kitchen table. The brunette gave him a friendly smile.
"It's good to see you up and about, shinobi-san!" She stepped away from the boy who had to be her son to give him a bow. Kakashi reciprocated automatically. "Your team has been working very hard while you recovered."
Naruto ducked his chin into her chest and appeared very interested in her work. He was grinning into his collar.
"I see."
The woman blinked. "Oh!" She turned pink. "Excuse me. My name is Tsunami. I am Tazuna's daughter, and this is his grandson, Inari." The child did not wave or acknowledge him. "My father is out working on the bridge. The rest of your team is with him."
That still left one person unintroduced. Kakashi gave her back a pointed nod, maintaining pleasant eye contact with Tsunami-san.
She smiled back and then went back to helping Inari-kun practice what appeared to be katakana. Odd.
"Yo." The redheaded woman spoke, holding a hand up for an instant. The gesture did not fit the well-manicured nails and heavily braceleted wrist that made it.
Kakashi gave the space between her shoulderblades a surprised look. "Naruto-kun. Who is your other friend?"
His loudest student blinked and then gestured at the stranger. "Hikari-san, this old dude is my sensei. Sensei, Hikari-san is Tsunami-san's friend. She has been helping around the house since…" Naruto paused, face scrunched in thought. "Since we got here."
'Naruto still didn't give my name. Does that mean the kids were attempting information control?'
Excellent. That had been the right decision to make while he had been out of commission.
"Call me Kakashi." He aimed a calculated eye-smile at the strangers.
Inari-kun still didn't look up. Hikari-san didn't turn around. Tsunami-san turned magenta and starry-eyed.
He slouched a little more to look harmless.
"Eh." Hikari-san was rudely disinterested in his introduction. Or maybe just focused on her task.
His eye twitched.
'I'm not used to being so openly disregarded.'
Hikari-san tossed a handful of carrot into the pot and turned around. His chest seized up.
'She looks far too familiar.'
"-ad you're up," Hikari-san blathered, smiling like she had a secret, Minato's eyes half-mast. "Naruto-kun won't admit it, but your team has been very worried for you." She rinsed her hands, mercifully turning her face away enough that he could think again. But he could see Kushina in the curve of her jaw in profile and the long line of her neck.
'Impossible.'
He had to be overreacting. Kakashi managed the focus to dredge up an eyesmile, despite the fact that his heart was struggling against his ribs. "Yes, well, they're good kids." He ignored Naruto's flailing and protestations that he wasn't a kid.
He watched Hikari-san's mouth move in a daze. He saw ghosts every day but they weren't usually a hellish blend of dead people he loved. What did this say about his psyche?
'It doesn't even make sense. She can't remind me of both of them.'
Kakashi had missed what she'd said. He gave a nervous laugh.
'What did I miss?'
Now that he thought about it, he hadn't really even registered her actual features as a whole. When Hikari-san turned back around, Kakashi catalogued it.
Her hair wasn't Uzumaki red. But it was still red. Her face was average in shape, but some of her features had a sharp look to them. Really, that wasn't so much like either Kushina-san or Minato-sensei. Kushina-san had possessed a beautiful, wide-set facial structure that Naruto had inherited, but Minato-sensei had a narrow face. It was ridiculous, really, to see parallels where there weren't any. Even though her eyes really did remind him of sensei's in shape. They were black, not blue. It wasn't the same. It wasn't.
Naruto was staring at him, fingers loose around his chopping knife. The twelve year old looked deeply suspicious.
He gave his genin an intentionally dopey smile.
"I see that I've missed out on quite a lot while I was out."
Now that he was actually paying attention to Hikari-san, something didn't seem right. She wasn't dressed anything at all like her supposed friend. She had turned her back to him carelessly, but her feet were always in a ready stance. He narrowed his eye at the woman- there wasn't an ounce of unnecessary fat on her. The loose clothes gathered at the waist gave the impression of dramatic curves, but he suspected there was muscle hidden there instead.
'Kunoichi.'
"I ought to get going." Hikari-san gave a stretch. "It was nice to meet you, Kakashi-san."
Tsunami-san's brows twitched together. "Well, I suppose I will see you in the morning?" she tried.
Hikari-san gave the young mother a smile. But her gaze was boring into Kakashi. "Probably not. Have a good night, everyone!"
"Let me walk you home." Kakashi kept his tone pleasant for the civilians in the room. "I need to stretch my legs."
Naruto's mouth dropped open in outrage, but Kakashi didn't have time to linger on what perverted assumptions his genin might be reaching.
The kunoichi's face tightened. "Of course." She flashed a smile at him. "Don't worry, Naruto-kun. I won't wear him out."
Naruto's offending squalling followed the adults out. Kakashi shoved his hands in his pockets and slouched even further to disguise how tense and ready his muscles were. Hikari-san shot him an amused expression through her eyelashes as she slipped on little blue shoes that matched her jacket.
He clenched his jaw. He held the door open. He considered how he would confirm his suspicions.
She walked out in front of him, heading away from the well-beaten path that must lead to what passed for civilization around Wave.
Kakashi checked the skyline automatically. They were headed southeast, away from the coast.
"I'm not a missing nin, nor do I have village affiliations."
He stumbled over his tired feet. "That's honest," Kakashi said uncertainly. Possibly, anyway. He definitely hadn't expected her to admit that she wasn't a civilian.
Hikari-san shrugged, looking over at him again. The amusement was gone from her face. The friendly openness she'd directed at Naruto was gone as well in favor of cold disinterest. "I don't believe in wasting time, Kakashi-san. I merely wish to make clear that we do not need to have conflict. I have no interest in fighting you or your children."
"What interest do you have?" Kakashi bit back, irritation rising at how dismissive she sounded.
She made a rude huffing sound. "Nothing to do with you or your little flock, so you can mind your own business," Hikari-san informed, condescension painting her voice. "Tsunami-san is a good friend of mine. I thought it would be needlessly distressing for her to have to find a way to bury the worst babysitter in the world and three preteens."
'She's right. I could have died.'
"Those three are capable shinobi," Kakashi interrupted, hackles raised at her insinuations.
"They're puppies," Hikari-san dismissed.
He registered the unusual phrasing at the same time that she did, a muscle ticking in her jaw. So that hadn't been deliberate? He filed the oddity away without letting on that he'd noticed. "I suppose I should thank you." There was nothing thankful in his tone.
The smile Hikari-san gave him was absolutely wicked. He recoiled from it before he knew why.
"You should, unless you enjoy bedsores."
Kakashi stood frozen for a step. He felt his cheeks heat. "Well. Ah, thank you, nurse?" he tried. When he started moving again, his legs felt even heavier.
"Oh no, I'm not a medic of any kind." Hikari-san snorted. "Fuck no. But I was a little less clueless than your genin. Anyway, you're welcome. Nice freckles, by the way."
"I don't have freckles," Kakashi retorted, feeling his shoulders hunch up towards his chin.
She shrugged in response. She stopped walking and turned to face him fully. "Obviously, we are not walking to my house. I'm not taking you there. Look, can we just call it even and move on?" Hikari-san raised an eyebrow. "I helped you out, now you can help me out."
"No," Kakashi rejected. "I'm not making any deals. I don't know whose agent you are."
She rolled her eyes. "Moron. No, I mean that your mission to connect Wave to the mainland will benefit me. I would have taken care of it if I'd known Tazuna-san needed protection, but this is better." Hikari-san eyed him up and down. "This way, everyone knows Konoha took care of things and not me. Gato won't be harassing you when you go back to Konoha. But I live here."
That motive was blatantly pragmatic self-preservation. He relaxed instantly.
'It fits. Tsunami-san did seem to know her relatively well, although she believes Hikari-san is a civilian.'
But-
"Why did you allow the situation to reach this point?" His voice had an edge. What he'd heard about Wave didn't imply good things about anyone who could have fought Gato and chose not to.
Hikari-san's eyes tightened. "I've been away from home." That sounded like the truth. "My mother died. I took her ashes back to where she grew up." She looked away. That could be a tactic to hide a lie or a fidget indicating discomfort at saying such an uncomfortable thing. "Then I took missions. I was out of funds. I think you can imagine why it is not my habit to seek work from people who know me."
"Did your mother train you?" Kakashi prodded, trying to figure this woman out. Her story almost fit, but it didn't feel right. It was possible to grow up shinobi outside of a village system, but it didn't happen often. There was a reason that shinobi worked together in as large a group as possible.
He could see the moment she shut down, putting up a sneer like armor. Oddly, the expression helped. He'd never seen Kushina or Minato with an expression that openly sour.
"No, you did. Don't ask stupid questions. You'll be seeing me around, Kakashi-san." Hikari-san flipped her braid over her shoulder. She crossed her arms. "Unless, of course, you insist on being a brute. If you mind your own business and do your job, we'll be fine."
If his legs weren't shaking, he would have considered a fight. He didn't want an unknown quantity around, especially since he suspected Zabuza and an associate were in the area.
'She could have been that hunter nin impersonator,' Kakashi thought, eyeing the woman's short stature. 'I had assessed that person as male and young, however. And I believe the voice is different.'
"Are you working with Zabuza?"
Bluntness seemed to be the order of the day.
Hikari-san rubbed at her temple with the base of her thumb. "No." Her voice was short. "I fought him once, actually. He believes he ran me off. So you're aware that he's alive?" She shot him a wry look over her fingers. "I don't like him much. I think I would prefer that you kill him over the reverse."
He looked up at the sky, watching the sun creep towards the skyline. "My sentiments are similar."
'It's too convenient. But I don't think she's working with Zabuza. If he'd had two associates, the hunter nin act would have been much more convincing. It follows that even a capable shinobi without a village or backup would retreat when faced with someone like Zabuza.'
When he looked back, Hikari-san was gone. But the uneasy feeling in his gut remained.
'I don't like this. But it might be best to keep an eye on her.'
He frowned slightly.
'This might be a good time for a lesson on counter infiltration. I don't like that my team had no idea there was a shinobi in the house.'
He couldn't move very well, but he didn't have to in order to accelerate their training. They wouldn't learn heavy combat skills in a matter of days, but he could give them the skills to have a chance of staying out of the thick of things.