Mother

Her head throbs forcing her to wake. The memories of the past twenty-four hours rushed through her mind in a blur. Everything was vague and hazy. She remembered what happened but it felt as though there was a cloudy film covering it. Her eyelids felt heavy, and the pain radiating through her skull caused her to feel the throbbing behind her eyes, opening them was too much of a task. When she finally forced them open they're met with the all too familiar figure she had the displeasure of meeting.

"What do you want now Scarface?" she growled, "Would you like to pull off my fingernails one by one with a set of pliers, or have you had your fill?"

She does her best to glare at him but she was too mentally and physically exhausted to give it her all. Her energy drains and lets her head fall again. A tinge of guilt briefly washes over Ibiki, however, he reminds himself that everything he does is for the overall safety of the village.

" No, that won't be necessary. Apologies, I never introduced myself, my name is Ibiki Morino. I'm the head of Konoha's Torture and Interrogation Task Force. I hope you can forgive me, the last time anyone from the Land of Sound was in the Leaf Village our Third Hokage died protecting the village. My apologies again for our paranoia. I always say it's better to be safe than sorry." He maintains eye contact to ensure his genuinism.

Katsume chuckles a bit, mentally patting herself on the back for her correct assumption about him being the interrogation task force. Okay, sure she was irritated and the degree of torture seemed like overkill, but she's not ignorant. She could understand putting the safety of the village above all else, as well as the extra precautions given she's from the same land that killed their previous Hokage. It still fucking sucked though.

"Does this mean I'm free to go speak with the Hokage? It's just that I'm getting mixed signals, you're apologizing, but I'm still handcuffed to a chair." She jiggles her wrist making the cuffs clang against the metal.

"Yes, I will be escorting you personally."

She deadpans," Do you have to?"

He smirks and walks up to her, kneeling down to unlock the cuffs. She massages her wrists and stands up. Her legs quivered, just how long had she been in that chair? Is it still the same day?

He shows her to the door, opens it, and allows her to walk through before following behind her. Taking the lead he escorts her out of the building. They walk through the entrance, the bright sun making her want to cower away back into the shadows. She squints and her brows furrow in pain. She expected it to be late evening. Maybe all the excruciating pain just made it seem like she had been there for hours.

Ibiki noticed her confusion, "It's the next morning, you passed out from the pain so after we extracted the information we needed, we just let you rest."

Katsume scoffs, "Oh you're too kind. Though, maybe for the next torture sesh, you could move me to a bed after I pass out. My neck is killing me." She says sarcastically while rubbing her sore neck.

Just because she understands, doesn't mean she wasn't going to be petty about the whole thing. There was something else occupying her mind though. "Is the Hokage...expecting me?" She asked more nervously than she would have liked. Now walking beside her, Ibiki knew what she was really asking. Lady Fifth's personal affairs were above his pay grade. His only job was to assess potential threats to the village and Hokage, and from the information they extracted the night before, he came to the conclusion this woman was not one of them. So, he might've left the possibility of the visitor being the Hokages daughter out of the report he had given her earlier this morning.

"Yes. She's expecting a citizen from the Land of Sound."

Katsume sighs in relief. Maybe this Ibiki guy wasn't so bad.

"Thank you. Soooo… what's she like?" she asks, glancing up at him, hoping to get an impression of her from someone else's perspective. He seemed a bit uncomfortable with the question but answers anyway.

"I think that is something you should discover for yourself. We're here."

She stares at the large, red, circular building. He leads her in and she admires the architecture of the Hokage Mansion. Ibiki and Katsume approach a door guarded by two shinobi with masks. They allow Ibiki to knock and enter the room but block Katsume from entering behind him. She was having a sense of deja vu and hopes it doesn't turn out like yesterday. She looks at Ibiki slightly panicked and he nods, so she waits for him to return. She listens carefully hoping to catch any part of their conversation but couldn't make anything out. Ibiki opens the door after a few minutes and the shinobi allow her to pass through this time.

Her nerves were beginning to get the better of her. She knew this would happen, she was getting overwhelmed. The only thing keeping her from turning around and getting the hell out of there was damn Scarface leading her in with his large hand hovering behind her back. He was doing this on purpose. He could feel her anxiety radiating like a heated blanket covering her body. He normally didn't involve himself in private affairs like this, but he had to admit he was a bit invested after Inoichi told him everything he saw. The Leaf was getting a bit boring anyway, so giving the girl a respectful nudge to talk to Lady Tsunade couldn't hurt. Well, it could actually. Many people could be hurt by this nudge. He mentally shakes the possible consequences of his actions away.

"Lady Fifth, I present Ms. Katsume of the Hidden Sound Village."

Katsume was about to correct him before remembering he was technically right. He then bows before retreating from the room. Katsume gives him a panicked look, silently mouthing 'You're not staying?!'. The look he gave back to her was one of comical pity, mouthing 'Fuck no. Good luck.'. She lets out an exasperated sigh, she hadn't brought herself to look at the desk where her mother would likely be sitting. Instead, as she had walked she counted the tiles on the floor, as if not looking at her meant she wouldn't be there.

Finally, her brown eyes met the identical ones of her mother. As the Hokage stood to greet her, she took in her image, carving it into her brain so she could never forget it. Like initials carved on a tree, symbolizing timeless love. A bittersweet notion should the interaction end in heartbreak. Tsunade had long blonde hair tied in loose pigtails behind her back. A violet, diamond-shaped mark adorned the center of her forehead, her skin, pale and glowing. She was absolutely gorgeous. However, she could do without having to see so much of her mother's cleavage, but now she understood where she got her own bust. Genetics are cool, she thought. She notices she's been staring at Tsunade for some time and quickly bows respectfully. " It's nice to finally meet you, Lady Fifth."

Tsunade scans the young woman up and down skeptically. This woman looks so familiar. I just can't place my finger on it, she thought.

"What can I help you with Ms. Katsume? My apologies, I didn't catch your surname." She sits back behind her desk awaiting Katsume's answer so she may address her properly.

Katsume scratches the nape of her neck out of nervousness. Getting right to the point I guess. she thought. "Oh, well...I never met my parents, so I don't have one. Just Katsume is fine."

Tsunade's expression fell. " I'm sorry for your loss. How may I help you, Katsume?"

Katsume tries her best to keep a straight face at her response. Like some kind of sick inside joke only she was aware of.

"Actually, they're not dead, at least my mother isn't. I'm not sure about my father though. I was hoping that once I found her she could tell me who he is if he is in fact alive."

Tsunade listened closely, but the conversation was beginning to make her feel on edge, the woman's answers were so vague. " I see, so you would like my assistance in locating your mother?" She was starting to become uncomfortable for some unknown reason and shifted in her seat.

Katsume notices this, beginning to gain some confidence from her mother's reactions. She couldn't help it when a smile started to break through.

"No," she chuckles half-heartedly, "My apologies for the confusion. I'm a bounty hunter, so I'm quite efficient in tracking people down." In a rush of valor, she plants her scared hands firmly against the desk, leaning mere inches from the face of the Hokage. "You see, I've already found my mother." She says, intimidation lacing her vocals.

Tsunade immediately felt uncomfortable in the close proximity of this young woman. If she's already found her mother then what does she need? They were not progressing in this conversation at all. She felt as though she was missing something, an answer right in front of her face, but she couldn't see it. She was behaving so abnormally as if she was supposed to know some secret code entwined in her words. She stared quizzically at Katsume as if deciphering a code. Suddenly, like a domino effect, all the pieces started to click in Tsunade's mind. The village she's from, never meeting her parents, and her age is in the mid-twenties, her jaw drops, and why she looks so much like…

"HEY, TSUNADE!"

The women practically jump out of their skin, horrified by the sudden and obnoxiously loud intrusion. As their souls return to their bodies, their heads snap to the intruder. Tsunade recognizes the man, anxiety growing to an almost unbearable level. She glares at him, the man really has the worst timing. The large man shoots an embarrassed cheesy smile at the Hokage before turning his attention to her visitor. She was beautiful, but what really captured his attention was her long, spiked and unruly snow-white hair. Hair that was oddly resemblant to his own. Katsume noticed the resemblance as well, no longer able to control her facial expressions, she turned her shocked gaze to the Hokage. He glanced back and forth between the two women, feeling awkward amidst the tension in the atmosphere. He laughs loudly in hopes to lighten the mood. "My bad, Tsunade! Am I interrupting something?"

"Yes!"

"No!"

The two say in unison. Katsume glares daggers into her mother, she couldn't believe that after twenty-five years she was still trying to hide the truth. Tsunade fidgets in her chair under her harsh gaze.

"Is that him?" She sternly asks her mother, her voice breaking slightly in contrast, tears beginning to angrily brim in her eyes.

Tsunade glances sheepishly toward the man she was referring to. He had no idea what was going on, but the girl's question and the hurt in her voice now fully invested him in the argument ensuing.

"What's going on Tsunade?" his chipper attitude turned serious with the flip of a switch.

She looked at him in terror, she couldn't hide it from him anymore. She was caught, the proof of her lies and mistakes right there in front of her, with nowhere to run.

"Jiraiya, this is my…. o-our daughter, Katsume."

There was a moment of comprehensive silence. The man Katsume now knows to be Jiraiya slowly shifts his gaze to the younger woman. They analyze each other, noticing all of their similarities in a new light with the information. He couldn't deny this was his daughter. Her long white locks were only slightly tamer in comparison to his own. She had Tsunade's undeniable beauty, her golden brown eyes like endless pools of honey, identical to the ones he fell in love with so long ago.

Katsume stood in shock, tears threatening to fall. She wanted to embrace him but felt it may be inappropriate in these circumstances. Her body flooded with various and conflicting emotions as she took in the sight of her biological parents for the first time in her twenty-five years of life.

Jiraiya's instinctually loving heart wanted to wrap the girl in a crushing bear hug, deciding against it only to spare overwhelming her. It shouldn't be like this. He shouldn't even have to think twice about hugging his daughter. He should have been able to be there for her, watch her grow into the beautiful young woman standing before him now. But that was blindly stripped from him, ripped from his unknowing grasp. He knows now though, it made his blood boil, angry, and hurt that Tsunade could keep something so life-changing from him. She had plenty of opportunities to come clean in the past twenty-five years. Twenty-five years. She hid his only child from him for twenty-five years. Lied to his face every day for twenty-five years.

He turned his head down, a dark and ruthless glare meeting the eyes of his Hokage, " You have got a lot of explaining to do. However, I've just learned I have a daughter I never got the chance to raise, so I will be taking her to lunch. You have until we return. You can't run from this one Tsunade." he says coldly.

Before she could say anything Jiraiya ushers Katsume out of the room.

"Jiraiya wait!" Tsunade calls out to him, but he ignores her, leaving behind only a deadly glare

He slams the door behind them, muttering angrily to himself as he continues to guide her out of the building. Once they are outside, Katsume stops, causing him to stop as well a few steps ahead and turn to her.

She spoke softly, voice as quiet as a mouse, " So...you really didn't know?"

She looks up at him expectantly and he sighs deflated. "No. If I had known things would've been much different. I'm so sorry, Katsume."

She can feel tears starting to brim in her eyes once again. She lived her entire life thinking her parents were dead, she could hate the Old Bat for lying to her, but she knew she was just doing what Tsunade probably asked of her, and what good would that do? She's dead now. However, her parents are alive. Her father is right in front of her. Although nothing has gone quite as expected, the moment she's been dreaming of is happening.

Jiraiya notices the tears falling down her cheeks and takes the moment to properly hug his daughter for the first time. She's surprised by the affection but happily accepts it, throwing her arms around him and holding on for dear life, as though if she let go he would disappear like waking from a dream. He rubs her back soothingly and speaks softly into her hair, " Shh. I'm here now, and I'm not going anywhere. I promise."

A tear escapes from his eye as well. He'd dreamt of being a father but the journey he'd been on would've left little time for a family, he never thought it would actually happen. He had missed out on so much over her life, she was already a young woman. All the important milestones were already gone and passed. He's not sure how he would have reacted if Tsunade had told him the moment she found out, but he knows he would not have chosen this life for her. He had no idea how she was raised, if her life was happy, or if she struggled. He knew nothing about his own daughter and that crushed him. He lets her hug him until she lets go on her own, relishing in the thought of holding his child.

When she finally does, her sobs dwindling into small sniffles, he cups her cheeks, wiping the tears away with his calloused thumbs. " Are you hungry?" He asks her softly. She chuckles lightly, "I'm fucking starving." He gawks at her, amused by her vocabulary, and laughs loudly. "Let's get you fed then! Ichiraku has the best ramen in the Land of Fire. We can talk there." He pats her on the shoulder and leads her in the direction of the ramen shop. They walk in comfortable silence just appreciating the presence of one another.