"Then I won't waste words. Kazekage, the prisoners from Amegakure cannot be handed over to you. Everyone knows that custody of prisoners belongs to Konoha. If they all die, the responsibility will fall on Konoha. By the way, which Amegakure ninja killed your elder brother?"
"Shigure."
Shigure, Danzo had heard of him. What a pity. Now that the sealing needles had been applied, it was already too late to make use of anything. He should have checked more carefully beforehand.
"I can hand over Shigure to you. You may do as you please with him. But the others are not negotiable."
"I asked for all of them. You give me one. Are you trying to brush me off?" The Kazekage's voice was calm.
The Hokage replied with a polite smile and a shake of the head. "Not at all. Kazekage, I have my difficulties as well. If we discard all the prisoners, Konoha will lose face if this gets out. The Land of Fire would also lose face."
"Detaining former Amegakure prisoners without authorization, your Daimyo is unaware of this. Hokage, is it appropriate to use the Daimyo as your excuse?"
That struck the point directly. Danzo had no easy rebuttal. After a moment of silence, he conceded slightly. "How many do the Kazekage want?"
"I want them all."
"Then there is truly nothing left to discuss." Danzo sighed, his tone turning regretful. "Kazekage, I truly sympathize with the matter of your elder brother. I also wish to offer what little help I can." His expression was sincere, so sincere that Gaara could see through it like a mask.
"Very well. Sunagakure is an ally of Konoha, so I will not make things difficult for you. My brother died at the age of eighteen. I will take one hundred and eighty men and one hundred and eighty women, plus Shigure."
"This." Danzo showed a brief hesitation.
Gaara immediately understood. "The former Amegakure territory includes land that originally belonged to the Land of Wind. I will now give that portion to Konoha. Hokage, this should be a generous gift, yes?"
It was a gift to Konoha, not the Land of Fire. That meant the land would effectively become Konoha's private possession.
Danzo had to admit, this young Fifth Kazekage truly valued his brother deeply. "I am impressed by your devotion, Kazekage."
Gaara shook his head slightly. "People only learn to cherish after loss. Hokage, I have treated war too lightly."
"For someone so young to have such insight, your future is limitless."
The polite exchange ended there. A few more empty words passed between them, and then both the Kazekage and Hokage fell silent.
Tenten threw up often. She vomited when she saw corpses. She vomited when bodies were burned. Sometimes even eating would make her vomit.
The ANBU members watched the new girl with faint amusement. Most ANBU were veterans of countless battles. Even those without much experience wouldn't normally be shaken by such scenes. They knew she was a fellow operative under supervision, an ANBU-adjacent presence without full insignia. If they didn't, someone like her, constantly retching in front of prisoners, would have been just as easy a target for abuse. Because being different was its own kind of sin.
Still, as people said, you eventually get used to it. And she did. After a few days, Tenten could even eat lunch calmly while smoke from the cremation grounds drifted in the distance. It was a kind of growth. But not one she ever wanted.
Once sealing needles were applied, a shinobi's physical condition deteriorated sharply, often worse than an ordinary person. Even slight weather changes could bring illness. And in Amegakure, a place without sunlight, dampness was unavoidable.
The night before, they had opened the prison windows for ventilation. Cold wind mixed with moisture. By morning, several prisoners had already been carried out, Tenten couldn't even keep count. And she had no authority to demand help from Neji or Anko, the ones supervising this place. At first she didn't understand. Now, after a few days, she realized that as long as they simply didn't interfere too much, that was already "kindness."
The prison remained freezing. Thin, torn clothing barely covered their bodies, let alone provided warmth. The sick and injured lay everywhere. Perhaps someone still had a conscience left, because after seeing how many had been carried out in the morning, they stopped the afternoon "handling." If they continued, few would survive.
Tenten slipped in quietly. Even careful footsteps were enough to disturb those on edge. She raised a finger to her lips. Silence. The red-haired woman understood and nodded slightly.
Tenten moved to a corner of the cell, toward the person she had come for. Purple-red hair, once vibrant, had dulled. The small body was even smaller now, curled weakly. Her face was pale, trembling even in sleep.
Holding her was a blind woman with a scar across her face, fresh enough to still look painful. Without it, she might have been beautiful. Tenten had never spoken to her. In fact, she hadn't spoken to anyone here.
Ajisai's condition was critical. On the day of their fight, Tenten had barely won. Afterward, Ajisai had been severely beaten. Her wounds were untreated, then sealed with suppression needles. Even after receiving some medicine, it wasn't enough. Last night's cold had triggered a high fever.
Tenten had secretly brought a windproof coat. Without it, Ajisai would have been among those carried out this morning. The "Toki-sama" instinctively protected her, pulling her close. Though not a shinobi, she was strong compared to others weakened by sealing needles.
Tenten placed a finger to her lips. "Shh. It's me."
A rough voice answered, cautious. "Do you know her?"
"I do," Tenten nodded, then remembered the woman was blind. "We've met a few times." That seemed to ease suspicion.
Tenten knelt carefully. Ajisai's body was freezing, barely alive, clinging to the edge of death. Tenten regretted it deeply. Why didn't I learn medical ninjutsu back then?
The pills were too large to swallow. She crushed them into powder, mixed them with warm water, but Ajisai was unconscious and couldn't even drink.
Tenten lifted her mask slightly. She took the medicine into her mouth. It was bitter, so bitter it almost hurt. She lifted Ajisai slightly, gently pried her lips open, and transferred the medicine with a slow kiss-like motion. Some spilled out. But most of it went in. She repeated it until the cup was empty. Then she laid her down again.
Even after the medicine, her body remained cold. Tenten didn't know how to save someone who was dying. She took off her own cloak and covered her, but it wasn't enough. So she pulled her into her arms. She rubbed her arms gently, trying to share warmth. But the waiting was unbearable. No matter how much she tried, it still felt like the body in her arms had no warmth at all.
Fear crept in. She didn't want her to die. Not as an ally. Not as an enemy. Just not Ajisai.
Tears slipped down behind her mask. She didn't know why she was crying. She had never cried like this before, not even when trapped underground in the Sunagakure ruins. She had never cried for anyone. So why now?
"Are you crying?" Toki-sama asked.
She was a woman who never broke. When her village fell, she didn't cry. When she was violated, she didn't cry. When she lost her sight, she didn't cry. When her face was ruined with stones, she didn't cry. She survived. That was all that mattered. So she should have the right to speak clearly now. "You're crying? Why? The one dying isn't you. It's our comrade. If anyone should cry, it should be us."
Tenten wanted to deny it. "I, I'm not crying." Her voice broke anyway. But the tears wouldn't stop. She held Ajisai tighter, as if that alone could keep her alive.
Toki-sama watched her quietly. "You're strange."
Tenten couldn't answer. The body in her arms shivered again. And she cried harder.