That interaction was apparently just innocuous enough in the situation for Tiger to relax and dismiss her statements as protective bravado. The ANBU stiffened right back up when she straightened her index and middle fingers along Yuusaku's wrist and tapped out a familiar seal, but it was too late to do anything about it. The genin gave her a shit-faced smirk that implied he'd known what was coming and enjoyed blind-siding the Konoha nin.
"That's enough," Horse barked. "Time to go."
"Call me," Aiko said mildly, not outwardly returning any of her student's attitude. He'd know what was left unsaid. She withdrew her hand and started for the door before the ANBU could try to physically remove her. She tossed a lazy smile over her shoulder before she stepped out, leaning heavily on her crutch. "Make Mizukage-sensei proud, ne?"
The door closed on any response they might have made. But it was good to make sure they knew what they did and didn't have to protect as secret information.
She walked in painful silence for seven seconds in the middle of her escort. The air was heavy. "ANBU-san?" Aiko asked mildly.
Light glinted off Tiger's mask when he turned his face slightly in her direction.
She bared her teeth at him in what only a total fool might mistake for a smile. "I want to be Konohagakure's friend, you know."
Somehow, he got even tenser.
"Your Hokage knows what I'm capable of." She rolled her neck. "I hope he keeps it in mind, as well as the comfort of my precious students. Thanks for the escort. I'm going to use a more expedient method from here."
Before they could try to restrain her, Aiko pulled herself back to Kirigakure. Her office was still littered with boxes- half-emptied, with supply manifests scattered, both in-going and outgoing correspondence piled according to recipient and what needed to be done with it. The box with her personal seal was quietly waiting in front of her chair.
She looked at it all, for a moment. "Sakurai-san!"
A chair scraped. Moments later, one of her chuunin assistants pushed the door open. "Sakurai-san compiled the reports on that land you asked for, but he's out of the office at the moment."
"Fine." Aiko walked past her, remembered hat this was the woman who usually ended up sorting the mail, and then finally asked- "Your name?"
The woman's jaw tensed. "Mira, Mizukage-sama."
"Where were you working before?" Aiko crossed her arms. "And the other chuunin assigned to my office- Nishigawa, right?"
"I was in ciphers for a time, before my transfer to general administration. Nishikawa-san was liaison to the city council and involved in trade oversight, until-" Mira was struggling to find either the information or a way to phrase it, so Aiko waved the topic away.
"Alright, that's fine. You've been receiving all international mail, yes?" Aiko's tone might have been harder than she'd meant.
Mira looked a bit pale. "Yes, Mizukage-sama."
"I met someone interesting in Konohagakure," Aiko said conversationally. "He claimed he had been sending letters to this office. It might have been a joke, of course. I certainly haven't been getting those letters." She let her mouth move into what approximated a smile. "I hope you recall to whom you report, Mira-san."
The older woman might not have been breathing, brown eyes huge in her face. "Yes, Mizukage-sama."
"Keep that in mind." Aiko unfolded her arms. "I'll take my correspondence at home tonight, I have a guest. Please make the necessary arrangements." When she began walking down the corridor, her assistant clattered to keep up. "I'll want to see Utakata, Terumi, and Tazuna, in that order. Send the first two to me and let me know where the bridge builder will be when I need him. Oh- I'll want Sakurai-san there as well. Is he with Tazuna?"
"I will find out," Mira promised stiffly. "Will that be all?"
Aiko gave her a nod. "For now." She left the office by the conventional way, head high and apparently oblivious to the way that people stopped working to watch her. She'd been out of her city too long, too often.
Her lips thinned. She scanned the streets for an appropriate venue- okonomiyaki couldn't be transported, no, no, same problem with yakiniku- she veered into a hole in the wall that advertised udon.
"Good afternoon."
The receptionist dropped his menu.
Aiko pretended not to notice. "I'd like to place an order for takeout. Is that-"
"Of course!" He scrambled for his notepad. The conversations of diners in booths went on, out of sight. "What can I get for you?"
When her order was placed, she leaned against the entrance to wait. It didn't take long for her bags to be brought out, light blue plastic steaming from the bowls within. The server gave her crutch an alarmed look but didn't try to protest when she hefted the bags in her free arm. She took a brisk walk down the street to the home she had requisitioned from her unfortunate predecessor. "Tadaima!"
There was a long pause before Gaara said "Okaeri," from somewhere inside the house. The tone might have been sullen, or just uncertain.
"I picked up dinner," Aiko said flippantly, and put the bags on the kitchen table. The genin didn't venture into the room, but she knew he was listening to her move about. "I got you a soda, but I'll put tea on as well. I'll be working from home tonight- you're welcome to sit with me in the parlour, or I can have someone show you around town, or you may simply amuse yourself anywhere in the house. You find anything you like in the library?"
He edged into the room with already crossed arms sometime while she was filling the kettle. When she turned around to put it on the heater, he watched silently.
That was fine. "Dinner is soup, not particularly nutritious, I'm afraid." She pulled down nicer bowls from the cabinet, because she was not eating her first dinner with Gaara out of styrofoam. "Please pull out three spoons from that drawer over there?"
"Three."
It wasn't a question, but she answered it anyway. "Utakata, my friend and adviser." Aiko looked at the food again, and then looked into the fridge. That was a lot more difficult than it sounded- leaning down when using a crutch as balance was an interesting test. There wasn't enough variety in the fridge for a decent salad, really, but… She pulled out one of the good, sweet onions, a plastic bag with half of a red pepper, and a quarter of a cabbage wrapped in paper. "Pull out the cutting board while I rinse this, please. The yellow one- the pink one is only for meat."
Gaara seemed frankly baffled, but he did as he was told. He looked on, deeply suspicious, as she sliced vegetables and arranged them onto three plates. But when she went back to the fridge to see if there was any dressing, she saw he had set out chopsticks while her back had been turned. She gave him a smile. He looked away.
"I found goma and ceasar." She put them both on the table- and then the doorbell rang. Gaara tensed- and his shoulders went up even further when the hot water in the kettle began whistling. "Put tea on, please."
She turned away, as though she was absolutely certain he would do as she asked. The strategy seemed to work- she heard the cupboard open and close as she opened the door.
Mira was there with a box of papers in her left arm, a clipboard on her right, and a genin assistant holding a larger box behind her. Aiko stepped to the side to let them in.
"Put that all in the side room there, thank you." She watched them set it down. "Thank you, that's fine. Mira-san, I imagine you have work to do, but may I borrow-"
"Hirai Noa," the genin said, a bit too hastily. She had the biggest puppy eyes Aiko had ever seen on a human before.
"Right. Hirai-san, I'd like an order placed and brought here during my meeting with Utakata-san." She made eye contact with the genin and then with Mira- both seemed perfectly accepting. "Gaara," Aiko called. "Cake preferences?"
Mira professionally concealed any reaction, but the younger shinobi was fascinated when Gaara's sullen mug came into view.
"No."
"Right." Aiko dug out her wallet. "Let's get two cakes for here, then- something chocolate, and then why don't you pick something that looks interesting, Hirai-san? Two cakes here, and then- how many people are in the office today- the full thirty?" At Mira's nod, Aiko flicked her gaze up and did some quick estimates. "If you can get sheet cakes, two will do for the office, if not go on the bakery's serving recommendation. I think we all need a treat at this point." She handed the genin two large bills and didn't say anything about the slightly sick expression the child had at holding that much money. "For the change- put half into the office coffee fund. Hirai-san, restoring that can be your responsibility. Keep the last portion as the seed for a discretionary fund."
"Right." The girl seemed a bit overwhelmed. "I- of course, Mizukage-sama." she recovered with a bow. "At once. Will that be all?"
Aiko raised a eyebrow. "I think that will keep you busy until 6, but if not, of course report back to Mira-san. Thank you." Utakata came to the door as she was ushering her staff out. He waited politely for the entry hall to clear before stepping in.
His face did freeze when he saw Gaara lurking in the hall.
"Mizukage-sama."
Aiko pretended not to notice that there was both censure and question in that tone. "Utakata, meet Gaara. Gaara, Utakata."
Utakata recovered well and gave a bow. "A pleasure."
Gaara gave him a black look. He didn't say anything.
She almost felt a smile well up, but her mood was too black. "Dinner is on the table, come on. I want to hear about our Konoha guests, the progress on getting people back to work although I have to say it looks good, and then to hear your thoughts about the situation in Konohagakure."
Utakata let her bully him into sitting down, but he gave Gaara a perturbed expression. "Mizukage-sama," he began.
"Eat your vegetables, they're good for you." Aiko dashed on some goma dressing and passed it to Gaara. He took a moment before reaching out to accept it, and then examined the bottle with a line between his brow. Utakata watched this interaction with a long-suffering expression.
Aiko saw the exact moment when her friend gave up on finding a way to interfere on either Gaara or the salad's behalf. She gave him a smirk and then busied herself with pouring tea.
Utakata sighed. "I'd like that dressing once you're done, Gaara-san."
"Don't be so distant," Aiko said. "That's my kid, you should be friendlier. Right, Gaara?"
He looked alarmed. But he didn't deny it, so.
"Did you steal that child?" Utakata's pitch shot up. "Aiko-"
"Don't be ridiculous." She scowled at him. "A person can't be stolen. It's kidnapping if you take a person against their will."
Utakata did not seem to appreciate the correction.
"But Gaara chose to come with me. He can choose to go elsewhere, of course, but he's here now." She nodded at the genin, acknowledging that they were talking about him while he was in the room. "And he's going to use that dressing quickly, because someone else is waiting for it." She let a warning tone edge into her voice.
Gaara upended the bottle over his sad little salad, let far too much plop out on the center of the vegetables, and mechanically passed it to Utakata. The lines on his forehead were as deep as Aiko had ever seen them.
"Thank you," Aiko stressed.
"Thank you," Utakata obediently parroted. He very pointedly poured his salad dressing in a normal, restrained manner, because he was finally catching on.
"Is this how human adults model behavior for their young?" Sanbi sounded curious, for once. "None of my hosts have had eggs."
'It's how I taught Naruto. It'll be good enough for Gaara. I mean, I'm being a bit heavy-handed, but Gaara has clearly not been well-socialized before now.' She finished her tea and began picking at her salad.
"So." Utakata put his chopsticks down to speak. "Gaara-kun. How do you know Aiko?"
Aiko raised an eyebrow and met Gaara's black stare.
He didn't say anything.
She pointedly tugged at her own red hair as a cue.
His expression didn't change.
So she rescued him. "He's my son, of course." Aiko said airily. "You were just saying that I must be secretly very old, yes?"
Utakata made an insultingly genuine sound of contemplation. "Ah, of course. But what if you are in fact 19, as you have previously stated?"
She raised some cabbage in a toast. "Then he's my brother."
"You have to pick one," Utakata argued. "You cannot argue that you are simultaneously 19 and 42."
Aiko didn't dignify that idiocy with a rebuke, because clearly, she didn't have to do anything she didn't want to. She ate the cabbage in one huge mouthful.
Utakata seemed to decide it was best to ignore her. "Gaara-kun, how old are you?"
He was met with the same black stare as before.
Utakata narrowed his eyes back. They remained in silence for a solid ten seconds.
Aiko finished her salad and started in on her soup.
"Do you like dogs?" Utakata tried.
Gaara's expression finally changed, although it wasn't to anything more flattering than his 'you are below me and I shan't respond' bleakness. It was a bit disbelieving, actually.
Aiko agreed. "Of course he does, he's my ambiguously defined relative, after all. We all like dogs." She stacked her empty bowl on her salad plate and pushed back her chair. "I'm putting coffee on- I'm afraid you're not old enough to drink that, Gaara, but there's still some juice and there's always tea. Hurry up and finish, both of you." She put a filter in the machine and looked at the coffee, as though it might remind her how much was meant to go in the machine.
The coffee said nothing, so she just dumped a bunch in and flipped the machine on.
When she turned around, Gaara's food was gone and he was giving Utakata a look that might have been slightest bit smug. Utakata was sneering slightly, nose up.
'Right….'
"I'm going to start sorting through my correspondence, please feel free to join me in the other room when you're done." Aiko put her dishes in the sink and washed her hands. "I'm a day behind, since I got busy in Konohagakure."
Nadeshiko was requesting an extra escort next week for a rice shipment due to troubles on the road.
Mifune wanted a private meeting.
Nadeshiko- again? Ah, it was regarding the implementation of diplomats in residence, that was why it was sent separately. They wanted to send someone by the name of Fumiko, and requested someone to be assigned to Nadeshiko with authority to speak on minor matters. That was sensible, but god, who would she trust with that? She'd have to puzzle that out later.
A report about the proposed tax rates on mission payments- Aiko grimaced. It would hurt to lower the rates- they desperately needed the money for social projects and infrastructure. But the prohibitively high costs that had been grinding down Kirigakure's workers had to be ended as soon as possible if people were to have any trust in her at all.
'We'll have to make the money by getting more and better-paying missions. For which we need international cache, and wealthy clients, and …'
She stamped her approval and set it aside.
Utakata settled into the chair across from her at the small table, setting down a collection of folders. He kept a clipboard in his hands. "Scintillating?"
"Of course." She put the clip back on the master in-pile and set everything off to the side to give him her full attention. "Is there something you'd like to begin with?"
Utakata pursed his lips and ran a finger down his paper. "Tazuna-san has been directing the completion of the harbor lock in person, but a 3-man crew from his workers succeeded today in repairing the pedestrian bridge in the southern sector. It is now safe, and the area has been opened to the public. I believe that they are now taking a survey of the damage at the fallen bridge and will consult with Tazuna-san as to drafting a replacement. I thought to pull three or four genin teams to work under Sakurai-san's supervision and Tazuna-san's direction to assist in clearing the ruined materials so that the replacement may begin in a timely manner." He glanced up at her for approval.
Aiko leaned back and crossed her legs at the knee. "That sounds thorough. I'll be meeting with Sakurai-san later- what comments do you have about his performance?"
His sleeve slipped enough to show shoulder when Utakata shrugged gracefully. "He has acquitted himself with professionalism and tact in managing such a volatile personality as Tazuna-san and coordinating several groups of contracted workers. Why do you ask?"
She gave him a wry smile. "I think it's past time to try to untangle the mixed chains of command, isn't it? I'll be taking some projects away from you and Mei and promoting a few people to take more responsibilities. What we're doing now is not sustainable."
"It is not." Utakata stood. "We left the coffee in the other room. Please excuse me for a moment."
Aiko craned her neck to watch him walk off. "Does that bother you?" She raised her volume slightly to be sure he could hear her from the other room.
"It does not." She heard the fridge opening. "It will be a relief to have some more permanent arrangements designed." Metal clinked. After a few moments, he came back into sight with a tray- milk, sugar, coffee, spoons, and cups.
"You're my favorite." Aiko uncrossed her legs to lean forward and make herself a cup. When she looked up, she caught Utakata watching her with a fond expression. He quickly straightened his features.
She hid her own face behind her coffee.
There just wasn't… there wasn't the time or distance for that. She couldn't afford to compromise her working relationship with her only friend in the world.
"What, exactly, did you have in mind for Sakurai-san?" Utakata sounded aloof. He was a professional like that.
"I'll talk to him first, but as you've noted, he's very organized, efficient, and good at managing even difficult personalities." Aiko toasted the absent tokubetsu jounin. "He's ambitious- he's clearly very interested in acquiring the skills he needs to do whatever I want him to do. But he's picked up quite a bit from this recent project. I'm thinking about giving him the opportunity to accept an appointment as a sort of Trade Minister- projects like the docks and warehouses in that area would be under his purview, as well as collecting information to help set policy for outgoing and ingoing trade with international partners. What do you think?"
Utakata mulled it over. "That would take Tazuna's projects going forward out of Sakurai-san's jurisdiction. Who would be overseeing the rest of the infrastructure work?"
She took a fortifying sip before answering. "For now, you," Aiko answered honestly. "I'm thinking of positioning you as a sort of public welfare minister- you'll be the absolute top of the Education system, any Social Welfare programs we might institute, and Public works and infrastructure. Essentially, you'll be the upmost management of three areas, to Sakurai-san's one. But that's still lessening your workload. I'll be rearranging our staff to separate our resources along those lines- currently, we've got far too many people who report to both you and Mei, or me and Mei, or some combination thereof."
"Why, pray tell, have I been given these particular roles?" He arched a brow.
"I'm not totally certain that infrastructure needs to be under your purview," Aiko admitted. "Mei has an interest in that, I think. But giving that to you would give you more power to institute some of the social organizations that I think would help with developing our international soft power and raising our standard of living. Mei has… indicated that this is an area in which we have a philosophical break. I'm giving you the areas which will shape and direct our future influence."
"And allow Terumi-san to direct her energies to current events and safeguarding our present," Utakata finished. "I see. There does seem to be lesser likelihood of insurmountable philosophical difference in those regards that would impede a working relationship."
"Does that mean you'll take it?" Aiko tilted her head.
He looked to the side. "Do not be foolish. Of course I shall. I do notice that this breakdown might seem to conveniently give me the power to wield- soft power, as you said, in order to cultivate even international relationships and programs?"
She gave him a smile. "Fancy that."
"Indeed." Utakata made a sharp mark with a pen on his clipboard. "Gaara-kun, please feel free to take a seat."
The genin didn't look up, uncross his arms, or stop leaning against the back wall at the far end of the room.
"As long as you know you're welcome any time," Aiko said mildly. "But it's just fine if you prefer to stand. Utakata, in regards to the education aspect-"
"I believe we have full enrollment now, of the children from ages 4 to 10. A s suggested, I have found several recently retired teachers to help with the basic curriculum." Utakata switched papers and handed her a copy.
Aiko found herself looking at a list of names with headshots. She flipped a few pages- ah, after the personnel, the students were listed. "I'd like to start setting up meetings with the people who had been working at the Academy before, under Yagura, and see if any of them might be useful going forward. Start tracking them down and submit the list to Saito-san: she'll make my appointments and have them summoned in."
"Of course." Utakata let his eyes slide nearly closed. "I have made some inquiries, of course. I'm afraid that the principal has not been seen since before our arrival. No body has been found, but it must be assumed that he has either gone rogue or is a fatality of the incident."
"The Academy's old location was near the administrative center, wasn't it?" It was barely a question.
Utakata eyed her sideways. "Indeed."
Depressing.
"People die," Sanbi said flatly. "Often, when you are around. Let us move along with what you can affect?"
'You are a mean turtle.'
But he did have a good point, and there was something she could do for the living.
"This won't be under your purview going forward, but-" Aiko caught herself. "Actually, I'll take that project myself. I apologize."
"What are you thinking about?" Utakata ran a hand down his hair.
"The hospitals and general medical system." Aiko watched Utakata's hand move for a moment, mesmerized by how the light from above caught his hair. "Mifune-sama has indicated that there might be an opportunity for some sort of exchange- definitely trade, but possibly workforce and education. I need to know what resources we have, what we need, and to start doing something about our abominable preventative care." She made a face. "I'm glad that we've got a good handle on trauma care, don't get me wrong, but we need systemic immunizations, and treatment for on-going conditions, and dental, and-"
"Very well then," Utakata cut her off. "I see that you are indeed interested in this issue. I will gracefully cede the work."
She stuck her tongue out at him.
He rolled his eyes at her. "Speaking of medical care, I begin to wonder if you shall be reducing the chakra flow to your poor eyes at any time."
Her good mood fled. "No," Aiko said shortly. "Do not ask again." She crossed her legs at the ankle. "Let's move on, shall we? How has Chojuro-san been doing?"
Utakata took a moment to respond. "He is competent, but clearly eager to move from organizing introductory education towards implementing a more systemic mentorship program for post-Academy swordsmanship education."
"So later on, that might be a good project to give to him, but for now it would be foolish to promote him. Got it." Aiko finished reading through the names she'd been presented with. She didn't know any of them, of course. Actually - "Do you remember when the jounin confirmed my appointment?" Aiko didn't wait for a response. "There was a young man who stepped forward to protest. Do you know who he is?"
Utakata let his eyebrows raise. "By coincidence of our shared age group, but not well. He was a year ahead of me in the Academy. Is there something you would like to address with him?"
"Well." Aiko paused. "Not in the vengeful way that you're probably thinking, so you can stop thinking about places to leave bodies. I actually remember noting that I was impressed with his candor and poise at the time. I'd like to find out more about him, see his service record, and consider if there's a way he could be utilized."
He relaxed just enough for Aiko to know that yes, he had been wondering if he was going to be filing reports regarding a disappearance. "I will file a request for Saito-san to pull that information, then."
Aiko pursed her lips. "Actually, that would be Mira-san's department."
He gave her a wry look. "I suppose it would be, if you say it is."
"Saito-san is going to retain management of general office staff, mission reports and assignments, and flagging irregularities and recommending promotions and mental health alerts." Aiko bit at her lower lip. "But I think it's better to separate those functions from the high-security archives. I'm not completely certain of how much I trust Mira-san or her assistant yet, but they've been vetted and have the security clearance to manage it. But not everyone working in missions needs that level of clearance- it's best to keep those departments from mixing, don't you think? So I'm taking Mira-san out of Saito-san's management and having her refer directly to me."
"It may work well," he said, which was as good as agreeing. "I suppose that these records may need to go to Mira-san, then, but I was planning on having you check them before sending them to archives in any case." He indicated the reports he had been compiling on his projects. With your permission, then, I will start considering my recommendations for re-staffing the Academy, once we have a physical location once again set aside. Ah- the recent graduates have been doing fairly well in the teams that you selected, but I have two incidents to report. One is property damage related to a mission, the other disciplinary action given for insubordination."
"Thank you, I'll look it over." Aiko took the files without opening them yet. "Would you say that this requires my immediate attention?"
He shook his head. "Within the week should be acceptable."
"I can do that." Aiko put it on the bottom of the slightly depressing pile of matters she needed to sort through. "Would you say that there's any reason we should consider moving the recent graduates away from full-time assignment to the reconstructive efforts?"
"Not yet, but within the month, it would help to reduce burnout. Perhaps arranging periodic missions that would help build experience and skill as breaks from the less stimulating labor," Utakata suggested.
"Un." Aiko nodded. "I also want to commission several public works projects- I''ll talk to you about it later in more detail, but we need to address how bleak the city is. If we use genin to produce the water to fill any lakes, or help to surface public parks and training grounds, for example, it would do double-duty as public works to increase our cultural capital and standard of living while providing opportunity for high-level, sustained elemental jutsu practice. Float the idea, see if anyone jumps?"
He nodded acceptance. "Very well. I can see some merit." He paused. "As well as why this was delegated away from Terumi-san," Utakata said dryly.
Aiko hummed. "I think she's not as opposed to that as you might think," she disagreed, thinking of what she'd seen in another Kirigakure so long ago. Mei did understand the value of soft power, even if she didn't agree with the extent and implementation that Aiko was leaning towards. "But in any case." She shook the thought off. "Thank you for your work. I'm glad to close these projects." She tapped the relevant folders. "It might take some time for me to get through more than the summaries, unfortunately, but I trust your work. Do you have any concerns for me?"
"None that have not been voiced." Utakata looked at Gaara under his eyelashes. The genin was still lurking without comment. "I will be content, however, if we do not encounter any more of your long-lost children or siblings for the month," he said.
Aiko thought about Karin, and how she'd told the younger girl to go to Kirigakure with the claim of being her sister if she needed shelter. "No promises."
Utakata laughed.
She chose not to rock that boat.
The doorbell rang.
Utakata stood. "I will get that."
Aiko gave him an incredulous look and gathered up the crutch. She stood solely on her good leg at first before she could balance her weight on the tool. "It's my house. I answer the door."
His lips thinned. He followed her as she went to the entrance and opened it up. She heard a deep sigh from behind, but Aiko didn't break eye contact with a terrified looking young man holding two white boxes and wearing an apron.
"I have a delivery," he said, but it came out more like a question.
"So you do. Thank you." She reached out. The delivery man gave Utakata a concerned look over her shoulder. She pretended not to see him wavering over whether to give her the boxes or to hand them to Utakata, as her assistant was almost certainly indicating behind her back.
Apparently he feared her displeasure more than he feared she might drop the cakes, since he handed them to her. Aiko balanced the boxes against her hip with her good hand. "It's been paid for, yes?" she checked.
He nodded, turned red, and then bowed deeply. "Yes, Mizukage-sama."
"Right." she gave him a perturbed look. "Is there… anything else?"
He bowed again, nearly bending in half. "No, Mizukage-sama."
'I really need to be seen out around Kirigakure more, so people are less aggressively weird about dealing with me. I am not nearly as mean as they seem to think.'
Aiko stood awkwardly for a moment. "Right, then. Thank you." She stepped back and let the door fall shut.
Utakata sighed again.
She gave him the cake. "Set that down on the table, please. I'll get plating."
"No, you should sit down and get back to reading." Utakata raised his pitch. "Gaara-kun, would you fetch three plates, a knife, and some forks?"
Oh… right. She conceded with a nod. It would get Gaara to actually sit down with them instead of watching from a corner. It was best to get him involved.
That strategy, worked, to an extent. At least Gaara consented to sit. He still didn't speak, but he might have gradually looked less tense as the conversation became more pleasant. The three of them did a downright shocking amount of damage to the two cakes.
As Aiko had noted from her walk through the business district, a lot more shops were opening and civilians returning to the regular work of commerce. She had Nadeshiko to thank for that in large part- people who were not worrying about scrounging and rationing could return to regular restaurant and small business work. The bulk of the clearing and reconstruction of the high priority areas had been done- thank god for Yamato. Undamaged ships were able to use the harbor, despite the finishing touches being completed in the next few days, which meant that they would be able to meet some deadlines for shipping contracts with the outer islands in coming days.
Raidou had been a suspiciously compliant prisoner, but he was a set of strong arms that hadn't done anything subversive yet. That didn't mean he would be moved to any projects of significance. They'd need to find something to do with him after rubble had been fully cleared. Sai wasn't awake yet.
And when the conversation turned to Konoha and recent events there, Utakata was… He was…
"Why?" he asked, sounding plaintive. "Why have you done this?"
Aiko looked up at the ceiling. "It wasn't really my fault."
"Did someone else revive the Yondaime-Hokage?" he asked pointedly. "Perhaps it was Ryuusei-kun. That is most typical."
She wrinkled her nose. "I''m kicking the blame for that to Orochimaru, because I don't feel quite confident enough in just blaming the death god. Who is the one who actually did it, by the way." She gritted her teeth. "Konohagakure wants us to commit to a cooperative effort in hunting down Orochimaru, as a show of goodwill." She kept her tone level. "He's run off with the Ichibi, after all."
Gaara raised what would have been an eyebrow on another person.
It took a moment, but Utakata followed her stare and saw the amused expression on her new ward. A tortured comprehension dawned. "Oh, no," he said, very quietly. "No."
She snickered.
"Aiko, no," he said, a little louder.
"Aiko, yes," she countered. "What else can we do?" She shrugged. "I never said that the sealing scroll Orochimaru stole from me had the Ichibi in it, of course. That would be a lie," she said piously.
He gave her an incredibly shitty look.
Aiko took a second slice of the Mont Blanc that had apparently been Noa-san's recommendation. "At least the cake is pretty good, isn't it?"
Gaara grunted agreement.
~~~
The meeting had been uncomfortable enough before Jiraiya pushed the door open over a secretary's protestations. Genma clenched his jaw just that much tighter.
"I came when I heard about Orochimaru." Jiraiya swallowed. His voice was lower than usual. "I…"
Kakashi managed to look up long enough to give Jiraiya a commiserating look. Gai shifted just that bit closer to Kakashi.
'I don't know about Asuma, but the rest of them are acting as though it's resolved that this really is the Yondaime and he'll be sticking around. It seems like him, but we're going to need more than my gut feeling to put him back in power.'
Minato-sama managed a weak smile. "I'm glad you came, sensei."
The older man choked. "You—you idiot!" He lurched across the room and grabbed his student's shoulders. Minato let him. Jiraiya grimaced a moment, eyes red. "I can't believe…" His voice trailed off. "Damnit, kid." He hesitated just a moment longer before folding the Yondaime into a hug.
Uncomfortable, Genma averted his eyes. Gai was focused on Kakashi. Asuma remained stone-faced.
It was a painfully long moment until Jiraiya let go. He painted on a smile and ruffled Minato's hair. The Yondaime seemed relieved to duck it with a complaining sound.
"It's getting late," Genma observed. And he would need to report to the Sandaime before long.
Minato cleared his throat.
"Right, right, of course." Jiraiya ran a hand through his hair, and then settled it on his hip. He leaned against the wall. "Sorry it took me a while. You know, the border patrols are passing some odd information." He glanced back at Minato. "I don't know what I would prefer to be accurate. The Sandaime seems to have concluded that you're not being controlled by Orochimaru, so…?" His tone lilted up.
'Orochimaru, yes. Uzumaki? That's less clear.'
Hatake's gritted jaw was obvious even through his mask, but he was the only one of them who'd been witness to this part.
Genma repressed a sigh.
It was like Hatake was trying to get it all out in one breath. "Orochimaru tried and attempted to revive Yondaime-sama when he successfully revived the Nidaime and-"
"What, really?" Jiraiya exclaimed.
Hatake gave the older man a dull, resentful stare. Yondaime-sama was not as subtle with his sidelong glance as he might have been.
'This is ugly.' Genma purposefully yawned. "The Mizukage revived Yondaime-sama, right?"
"The… Mizukage?" Jiraiya seemed more lost. "The Mizukage was in Konoha-" his voice broke off. "Oh, no."
"Oh, yes," Yondaime-sama said grimly.
Jiraiya gave his student a startled look. "Why are you 'oh yes'-ing? I was expressing dismay at the prospect that this Mizukage might be a person of interest I've heard about through one of my contacts." He frowned. "And she was hiding under our noses. Why would you know her?"
The Yondaime gave a tight smile. Conspicuously, he did not give an answer.
"The Uzumaki?" Genma asked, because no one else was keeping this on track. "Female, about 155cm,-"
"Light red hair, flighty, with incredibly suspicious eyes?" the Sannin finished. He rubbed at his face, looking a decade older. "This does lend an interesting new interpretation to what I've been hearing out of Kirigakure. I thought it was propaganda. Definitely didn't see those eyes in person."
Genma eyed the other man. "And you've heard about her in regards to the incident with Gai-san?"
"What?" Jiraiya's glance shifted to the other jounin. "No, I don't know anything about that." He scowled. "What happened?"
"We've already discussed that in detail before you got here." The Yondaime seemed exhausted. "I'll fill you in later. I'm sure you know that people have concerns about the situation."
"Like who this woman is, and what her motivations might be." Genma couldn't quite look at his Hokage dead-on as he said it. But it did need to be said, didn't it? They'd known each other, no one knew how, and they'd tried to hide it.
The Yondaime was his Hokage, and Genma would follow him into death. But he couldn't fail to notice that something stank.
The Sannin, somehow, didn't seem to notice that the Yondaime went too still. He still looked tired. "I knew of someone with eyes like that, once."
"A parent?" Asuma asked.
Jiraiya grimaced. "If so… She could be between 17 and… 20, maybe?" He shook his head. "But I don't think he'd have kept it a secret from me. So assuming that theory is true, she'd be on the younger side and he never had a chance to tell me."
Hatake spoke up, which had to be a goddamn miracle. "There are sometimes good reasons to keep that kind of thing quiet." His eyes tracked to-
'No.' Genma felt cold wash over his back. 'He can't mean what I think he means.'
Hatake didn't—no. He hadn't meant that after all. His tone was dull resentment at worst. But now that the thought had crossed his mind…
'Yondaime-sama and Kushina-sama kept Naruto a secret, right up until the end. That was bold. It shouldn't have worked, but they knew it would. Had they…' A shiver went up his spine and prickled down his legs.
The probable timing that would match the age in her profile would have had her being born in the war. Born in a desperate time. That was familiar, wasn't it?
'Any child of Kushina's would have been hunted, even if no one had known to connect her to a Hokage. Even if the father wasn't Hokage yet, we were in a war over bloodline theft. If Kushina fell pregnant during that war…'
There was nothing especially ominous in that, except in implication. Them having a secret child made sense- that child disappearing for at least a decade and resurfacing as Uzumaki-san was….
Healthy childhoods did not result in shinobi like that. People who didn't trust, people who lacked the capacity to deal with their emotional relationships in healthy ways, people who were always playing a role- that couldn't be what Minato wanted for his child.
And the Yondaime looked at Uzumaki-san like she was an open wound. Uzumaki-san looked at the Yondaime like she didn't know if she wanted to dismiss him as an acquaintance or spit on him.
'And she's a perfect blend of the two.' The pieces fell in his stomach like a rock. How hadn't he noticed? She had Kushina's pale skin, Minato's nose and lips, a facial structure and hair coloring dead in the center of the two. The only thing that didn't fit was the eyes, and there were ways to explain that away.
But Hatake didn't know?
"She's probably really old," Jiraiya said, in a tone so bright it had to be false.
Genma blinked.
"Like Tsunade-sama, you know. They're related." He gave an overly dramatic shrug, palms out. "It might just be an Uzumaki trend to disguise yourself as a hot young babe." The lasciviousness in his voice was probably unfeigned. It was… Genma was man enough to admit that it was merited, but in this theoretical context, it was creepy.
The Yondaime's expression moved to something so close to disgust that Genma couldn't doubt it anymore. Could no one else see this?
As subtly as possible, he looked around the room. Hatake was drowning in his own misery, and Gai was tight-lipped but undoubtedly focused on his friend. The Yondaime- well, he didn't need to follow the clues, and Jiraiya was clearly caught up in something else.
If anyone else knew, it would be Asuma. And that bastard was unreadable.
"Sensei," Yondaime said. His tone wasn't more than stern disapproval, but…
Jiraiya heaved a dramatic sigh. "Fiiiine," he whined. He threw his hands up. "She's a time-traveler! That's it, mystery solved, I'm going to bed." He waited dramatically for a rebuttal that didn't come.
Yondaime-sama looked like he was on the verge of hysterical laughter, eyes too bright. His whole body twitched.
Genma tried not to let his eyebrows crawl too far up his brow. Well. The man had had a rough day. Allowances should be made.
The Yondaime walked over to the nearest desk, sat down, and cradled his head in his hands. He didn't speak.
The Sannin eyed his student a moment. "You're only getting weirder, kid," he remarked. He clapped Yondaime-sama on the back. "I guess I'd better stay, to make sure you don't devolve further."
The Yondaime clearly needed the subject changed, so Genma fished for an alternate theory. "The professional opinion is that her personality profile doesn't support her being above 30 at the absolute most," he drawled.
Hatake pulled his head out of his ass just far enough to give Genma a judgmental look, because the little prick was coming to the obvious conclusion. Genma winked back.
"Uzumaki-san is a formidable foe," Gai spoke up. "One who did not emerge from the universe, fully-formed of dew and the hopes of children."
A…..alright, then.
The Yondaime gave a laugh. It sounded mirthless, but it was a laugh, at least. "No, of course not. People don't just trip and fall in their pajamas into a world with no ties or history. The fact that we cannot pin any history to Uzumaki-san indicates, if anything, that it has been deliberately buried." He managed to lift his face. "She moves like a black ops operative. She's been hiding in Kirigakure that way." He pushed back his chair with a scrape. "Or maybe the story she told about coming from Wave was true." He sounded resigned. "She lived there as a child, probably because her parents were hiding. That would also explain her mysterious background. It's hard to argue against the testimony of so many of the people in the village of her long-standing residence."
"It doesn't fit," Hatake said, voice tight. He didn't bother to back that up.
The Yondaime just looked tired. "Then sit here and think of conspiracy theories. Time travel, that's a good one, but maybe she appears to have come from nowhere because she did. Orochimaru grew her in a test tube for all you know." He rubbed at the back of his neck, wincing. "I'm… I'm calling it a night. I'm not as young as you all, you know."
Hatake winced, which couldn't have been the Yondaime's intention.
The joke was an old one. But now?
'I'm older than the Yondaime,' Genma marveled. 'Fuck.'
That made the fact that Uzumaki-san was probably the man's daughter even harder to wrap his head around. Genma was older than his Hokage, who was old enough to have an adult daughter in Genma's age range.
….That fib, he couldn't completely justify, even in his head. Uzumaki-san mathematically had to be at the very very least 14, but couldn't possibly be older than 24.
'And I'm 30, looking at my 28 year old Hokage, who probably has a 24-year-old daughter. My head hurts. I blame math.'
Jiraiya grinned. "Ancient and decrepit, kid. Speaking of which, I thought you wanted any and all theories exhausted?" He scratched at the small of his back. "She's secretly Uzumaki Mito's spawn. Or Tsunade-hime's, I could see that making an excellent story."
"Kirigakure seems half-convinced she's a divinity," Azuma observed. He smiled with absolutely no amusement. "Hell, I'm not ready to dismiss it. She came out of nowhere with abilities most legends don't have." He huffed. "Probably the offshoot of some long-lost bloodline, of course, but it's hard to imagine she was sitting around in quiet obscurity before this point."
Hatake made an encouraging sound. "Must have been sealed away like a bijuu."
Genma felt his brow wrinkle. The delivery had been flat, but he was fairly certain that was what passed for Hatake's humor?
"A bijuu might be that bizarre," Azuma snarked. He shook his head. "She is slightly off, isn't she? What with the way the… death god…" He glanced at Minato. "..was giving her orders, she might be something from that realm." He grimaced. "That's not really something I feel prepared to deal with."
'She seems human enough to me.'
Jiraiya tilted his head to the side. "I feel like I need a more extensive report," he said neutrally. "Which is it, that she used some unholy technique to do the nearly impossible, or that she's some kind of death spirit? It's a lot easier to track down actual humans, but I suppose there would be something soothing in knowing that we don't have to worry about anyone replicating her stunt with someone like, say, Hanzo the Salamander."
Gai gave everyone present a disappointed look. "Or perhaps she is a shinobi, much like any other, who prefers that her past remain private. My experience has lead me to believe she is competent, dedicated to her comrades, and more noble in action than her flippant words would imply." He crossed his arms.
"Enough."
Genma felt his spine straighten.
"We can't know anything more yet." The Yondaime's eyes were hard blue mirrors. "Go home, all of you."