"Why did you kill him?" Asuma snapped, chakra blades already in his hands like jagged brass knuckles, their glint catching the fading light. Behind him, the entire outpost had drawn weapons. Postures tightened. Dozens of Konoha shinobi stood poised to strike, like an arrow drawn back and just waiting for release.
Shin didn't flinch. He didn't raise his chakra. Didn't move a muscle.
"The deal was to bring the criminal, and I did," he replied calmly. The lightning that had surged around his hand had already faded, and the blood on it had already begun to dry. His hands were crossed in front, everything about him showing just how relaxed he was. "There was no condition about him being alive. I brought him here, breathing so you could confirm his identity. Once you did… I punished him."
Suddenly, that casual neutrality turned ice-cold as his eyes narrowed.
"Takimura does not forgive betrayal," he said in a low voice. "Even if the traitor is one of our own."
Kaoru stood behind him. A strange thrill ran along his spine. He felt immense pride in that moment. Takimura had become bold and that only meant one thing - they were that strong. The line Shin had said was not just to share Takimura's attitude; it was a clear message for Leaf.
'Sensei believes it was Konoha pulling the strings behind all this.'
Kaoru didn't move, didn't form water droplets or establish his zone of control. But his Suijingan was already active. Beneath the mask, his irises gleamed faintly. If even one chakra signature flared in hostility, he'd strike before they could finish drawing breath.
"You've committed murder in Konoha territory!" Asuma snapped again, clearly trying to regain footing after Shin's cutting remark.
"Didn't you say this was a neutral zone?" Shin asked. "And more importantly, I killed my own subordinate, one who committed treason. Should Takimura now ask Konoha for permission to discipline its own shinobi?"
He stepped forward. One slow, confident stride.
"You were going to execute him anyway, weren't you?" Shin asked in a low voice. "Or was he too valuable for that?"
Asuma's jaw tensed. His teeth clenched, and for a long moment, silence hovered like a blade between them.
Then, finally, he exhaled through his nose.
"No. We weren't going to spare him. But that doesn't give you the right to execute someone in Fire Country."
"We'll keep it in mind," Shin said flatly, not even bothering to soften the words. He turned to the Noda captives, who still stood nearby, silent and wide-eyed. "Let's go, we're leaving."
The shinobi moved slowly, still dazed, as if they couldn't quite believe they were being freed. They looked around, expecting a trap. Expecting blades. But none came.
"If Lord Asuma has nothing else to say," Shin said with a light bow, "I'll be taking my shinobi and returning to Takimura."
Asuma opened his mouth, but in the end, he had no choice but to shake his head in regret.
"…You can go," he muttered, barely audible.
He knew what was at stake.
Not only was Shin's standing in Takimura well known, but Asuma had no delusions about the masked boy standing in front of him. The hair was too vivid, the eyes too unnatural. He had read the reports and watched the updates. Thanks to Jiraiya's spying network, Kaoru Takime's arrival in the Land of Fire had been anticipated before his boots ever touched soil.
"Thank you, Lord Asuma." Shin's voice held no mockery or triumph, but the chilling indifference.
The entire outpost remained frozen, watching in silence as the Takimura shinobi walked away.
The Konoha forces couldn't believe what they'd just witnessed. After insulting their authority, killing a man on their soil, and walking away without apology, Shin and that strange masked boy were allowed to leave untouched.
The Noda shinobi could hardly breathe. They had expected to die, expected to be the first cut down the moment steel was drawn. But instead, they walked out alive.
"Lord Asuma…" Iruka's voice was low, trying to keep his words between the two. "Why did we let them leave?"
"It was the Hokage's order," Asuma replied flatly. His gaze didn't waver, but something in his tone suggested the decision sat poorly with him too.
Then he turned, raising his voice just enough for the others to hear. "Everyone, stay alert. Be especially careful when dealing with the Uchiha from now on. Don't give them any excuse to cause trouble."
Without another word, Asuma walked toward the tent, the tension in his shoulders heavier than before.
'Whoever planned this entire thing… did a damn good job.'
…
"Sensei… do you think it really was Konoha?" Kaoru asked as they flickered through the forest, the trees blurring past them like streaks of mist-painted shadow. Their pace wasn't rushed, but it was far from relaxed.
"Everything points at them," Shin answered plainly, not even glancing back. "Which is exactly why I'm not sure."
"There's no doubt that Sako had something going on with Konoha. He was clearly trying to reach their outpost. But I'm not sure about the others. It felt like they were roped in. Maybe bribed. Maybe misled."
They landed in a shaded clearing, the forest finally parting just enough to reveal Uta waiting ahead, arms crossed and looking bored in the company of two clones and three unconscious prisoners.
Kaoru slowed, his brow furrowed. "Is Noda's secret technique really worth all this? Worth risking war?"
"They didn't want a war. If they had, we wouldn't have made it out of that outpost without a fight," Shin answered. "But they clearly thought we wouldn't risk one either. That's the key. They assumed we'd let it go. That we wouldn't shed blood over a technique."
He turned slightly, his gaze lingering on Kaoru's masked face, as if confirming something he already knew.
"But that changes the moment they lay a hand on me or worse, on you. They knew who you were, Kaoru. I don't doubt that."
Kaoru exhaled slowly.
"I know, but… Still… this whole thing felt sloppy. Why send chunins to meet the Noda traitors in that underground chamber? If they cared enough to steal that technique, why not send someone who could actually defend it?"
Shin didn't respond, but Kaoru hadn't really expected an answer. Not now. They were already getting closer to where Uta waited.
The moment they stopped, both Shin's and Kaoru's clones dispersed with a puff of smoke. Their usefulness had ended and with it came the flood of memory.
'Oh… so that's what they said.' Kaoru's brows narrowed. One of the Noda rogues had claimed they were planning to sell the technique to some merchant. Ridiculous on the surface, but he had really thought it was the truth.
"Lord Shin," Uta called. "Is my mission over?"
"Yes," Shin gave a slight bow. "Thank you for your help."
"I was simply following the clan head's instructions," she said politely, with an exhausted grin not fitting her earlier energetic smile. But her words delivered the message - if they wanted to express gratitude, it needed to be directed at Fugaku.
"We'll make sure the Suikage knows," Shin replied, meeting her gaze for only a moment before turning to leave.
But Uta took one step forward. "Kaoru-kun… will you visit our village?"
The question caught him off guard, and for a second he hesitated, just long enough for Shin to speak first.
"Unfortunately, we have to return to Takimura immediately."
Kaoru smiled faintly beneath his mask. 'He cut me off on purpose… so he knew I was going to accept.' He didn't complain or get angry. But it stung a little. He hadn't finished what he came here for.
Even if meeting Jiraiya was off the table, there was still one person Kaoru wanted to speak with. Someone who might know how to find the location of the beasts Mizuki was with. Someone with clan scrolls older than most of the villages themselves. But now he was going to miss meeting Fugaku as well.
'Whatever. I'll contact Itachi and ask him for a favor.' Kaoru made up his mind, his gaze drifting toward the Noda clan shinobi who were now busy tying up the captured rogues. One of them was pressing chakra suppression seals onto their abdomens, seals Shin had handed out after leaving the Konoha outpost.
"I hope we meet again someday," Uta said suddenly, her voice pulling him from thought. She was standing off to the side, ready to leave. But she didn't move. Her posture lingered a second longer, her smile a little brighter than before. "I've heard a lot about you from Itachi."
Kaoru blinked. 'That's… odd timing.'
"Kaoru-kun, could you remove your mask?" Her tone stayed light, but something curious lingered behind it. "I'm really curious what you look like."
'Huh?'
His fingers instinctively touched the edge of the mask. He didn't have to remove it. But refusing her now, after everything, felt pointless and kind of rude. Besides, it wasn't like his face was much of a secret. Thousands of people knew what he looked like, and this mask…
'If anything, this gives me a valid excuse to take off this ridiculous crying mask.'
Kaoru sighed internally, already annoyed as he remembered what it looked like. He reached up, yanked it off, and held it loosely at his side. Then, realizing how awkward the moment was, he gave her a weird smile - half polite, half unsure. He had no idea what expression to wear in a moment like this. It felt like he was awarding her some strange privilege of seeing his face, and he didn't know how to react to that.
Uta's eyes widened for a moment, and then narrowed with amusement. "Huh… You're even more handsome than I expected."
She grinned, eyes squinting just slightly in that rare, genuine way that came from someone not trying to flatter. And before Kaoru could say anything or even fully process it, she flickered away into the trees.
…
"Have you calmed down?" Maki asked the moment she stepped through the door into Kaoru's home.
"I didn't need…" Kaoru began, but stopped himself, his words catching before they could turn into something defensive. He smiled faintly instead. "Yeah. I did."
His gaze lingered on her a second longer. Studying her expression, her posture, her eyes, everything. Then he nodded once. But not to her. More like to himself, as if confirming that her sister had something to tell him.
"Before we bury that incident," he said, stepping toward her. He came close, leaning down ever so slightly until their eyes were level. His tone didn't rise, but it carried weight. "Don't lie to me again. Ever."
Maki's brow twitched. And then her fist dropped onto his head with a dull thud. It didn't hurt, not really. She hadn't meant it to.
"You don't get to forbid me from worrying about you," she muttered, poking his forehead with a sharp jab of her finger. "You're my baby brother. Do you understand what that means? I'll protect you by any method I have. If I have to lie, I'll lie. If I have to lock you in a damn basement, I will. And if I have to beat some sense into you, I will do that too and very gladly at that!"
She leaned in as she spoke, close enough that her breath grazed his cheek. But Kaoru didn't back down. His gaze didn't waver.
"…Fine," Maki sighed, realizing he wasn't letting this go. "I won't lie. Even if its to protect your ungrateful ass. Happy?"
Kaoru narrowed his eyes for a moment longer, weighing the truth behind her words. Then he nodded, satisfied.
"Yeah. Now I'm happy."
He turned casually and grabbed a green apple from the bowl on the table. The first crunch was loud, the juice running from the corner of his mouth.
"Now tell me what you came to talk about."
"Oh? You noticed?" Maki grinned, amused that her brother picked up on it so quickly. "Well, I've got a mission for you."
Kaoru didn't respond right away, chewing lazily, licking the juice from his lip.
"It's a formal one," Maki continued. "Since you're the Takime clan head, you can technically send someone else in your place. But…"
"But you think I'll want to go," Kaoru finished for her, his voice muffled by the mouthful of fruit. "Fine. What's the mission? I've got a meeting to attend, you know…"
"You little brat," Maki growled, throwing a half-hearted swing at him. "The Suikage herself is assigning this mission, and you're brushing it off like it's a chore?"
Kaoru danced out of reach before her hand could connect, smirking. The look on her face, brief surprise, then reluctant amusement, was enough of a victory.
"I know that wasn't anywhere near your top speed," he said. "I'm still not your match. But I will be. One day."
Maki laughed, really laughed. It had been a while since they shared something that simple. But her expression sobered just as fast as it brightened.
"I'll give you three Oinin," she said. "And I need you to eliminate the creature Shin and Akane failed to kill."
**
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