34

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR:

Kakashi and Not-Kinoe didn't stop to make a camp until around midnight, by Sansa's estimate. They didn't light a fire, but they did set up safety traps and hidden snares for prey and dig a hole at the edge of the camp site.

Sansa was mortified to realise what the hole was for– she thought she was desensitised to being a shinobi, considering how accustomed she had become to murder, seduction, casual nudity, torture and even urinating on herself from the times when she'd been left hanging from chains for days on end, back when Danzo was trying to break her. Having a bowel movement so close to Kakashi and Not-Kinoe, while still in their line of vision, was still horrifying. Them having a bowel movement was even more horrifying. And the fact that they didn't seem at all perturbed? Sansa felt her cheeks flame red and very determinedly looked the other way and tried not to listen.

After the sheer mortification was over and the pit was filled back with dirt, Sansa was bundled between Kakashi and Not-Kinoe as they pressed together for body-heat. Sansa wanted to summon Lady, wanted to curl up in her thick, warm fur, but there was something desperate about the way Kakashi was holding her, the way his fingers were digging into her, that had her hesitating. If she didn't give him this excuse to hold her, she thought, she didn't think he would let himself have this.

On her other side, Not-Kinoe was much more delicate in how he held her. He was like Shin, when she'd first met him. Shin had been so awkward, and unsure. Never quite knowing where to put his hands. She had taught him how to relax, how to go with his instincts until he relaxed into running his fingers through her hair, winding his arm around her waist to tug her close and, if his mask was off, rub his cheek against hers.

Shin...

Sansa's heart ached and a whine trapped in her throat, soft and piteous. Kakashi went frozen-still behind her, before leaning forwards slightly to rub his cheek against the top of her head. Sansa could smell him; sharp and strong, like the air before a lightning strike and the fur of a hound. Like the scent she'd always associated with safety in this world. And even in the midst of her grief, in the knowledge that she'd been too late, that she hadn't broken the binding seals fast enough to save Shin, she felt herself relax.

When she eventually turned to her other companion, feeling rather rude by ignoring him, Not-Kinoe smiled at her, a bit stiff and awkward, but clearly trying. Even if he didn't have the seal she could feel connected to the master-seal on the back of her neck, Sansa would have been able to pick him out as one of Danzo's.

"I– I don't quite know what to say to you," she admitted, feeling a bit helpless and not liking it. "You rescued me and now we're on the run and you've done all this for me and– I don't even know your name. I've just been calling you Not-Kinoe in my head, because you were very firm about your name not being Kinoe!"

Not-Kinoe looked a little blindsided by the rush of words and Sansa hastily stopped talking to give him a chance to speak. "I choose to go by Tenzo now," he said shyly.

"Thank you, Tenzo-san," Sansa said softly, and Tenzo's cheeks turned pink.

"You're welcome," he said.

"You don't have to answer this, Tenzo-san," Sansa said quietly, "but... how did you get out of Root? I thought the only way out was death?"

Tenzo's eyes widened. "How– how did you know?" he asked, a thread of anxiety audible in his voice. Beside her, Kakashi had gone predator-still and Sansa carefully leaned into him, let Kakashi wrap one calloused hand around her shoulder, his thumb brushing against the steady pulse of her slender, fragile neck.

"You think I can't recognise another member of Root?" She asked, keeping her voice soft, gentle. "I know what the children in there were growing up to be like. I know what the adults who had been raised in there were like. You're growing out of the mannerisms, but you haven't quite grown out of them yet, Tenzo-san."

Tenzo nodded slowly, accepting her explanation. Not that it was a lie, just not the full truth. "I was in Root," he admitted. "I met Kakashi-taichou there. He... taught me that there was more to life then Root. It was the first time I ever disobeyed an order. Then three years ago, I was released from Root and given over to ANBU, under Hokage-sama's command."

And Sansa went still.

"Three years ago," she said, ever so softly.

"Yes," Tenzo confirmed.

"And were you given a reason why?" she asked, feeling the tension within her rise.

Tenzo hesitated slightly, seemingly reading the growing emotion on her face.

"I assumed... I assumed that Danzo-sama had no need for a defective tool. That because I disobeyed, he had no use for me any longer," he said carefully. Sansa closed her eyes and took a deep breath, because it wasn't Tenzo's fault and she didn't want him to think that she was angry at him.

"I think," she said, in as calm a voice as she possibly could force, "that three years ago, Danzo traded you in the ANBU forces for me in Root."

A snarl ripped out of Kakashi's chest, guttural and dangerous. His grip on her shoulder turned to iron, but it didn't tightened, his control was too good for that. When Sansa opened her eyes, it was to see that Tenzo had paled; he looked horrified and suddenly so young and helpless. Because he was young, Sansa though; just in his mid-teens, and an unknowing pawn in the games of powerful men.

"It's not your fault," she told him fiercely. "I don't blame you." Feeling the hand on her shoulder clench slightly, she turned to look up at Kakashi and narrowed her eyes at him. "I don't blame you either," she said, just as fierce.

Kakashi shook his head, nothing but self-loathing on what little of his face she could see. "I failed you, though," he said quietly, hoarsely. "I didn't fight hard enough. I let them stop me seeing you, I didn't... I didn't even try. I didn't even know you were gone, that you'd been gone for three years, until a child told me, a civilian who approached me on the streets and said you'd asked her to keep watch for an ANBU with the Inu mask..." he trailed off, a helpless, hopeless look on his face.

"You had gone missing," Sansa explained quietly, "I stopped feeling your chakra, and when I asked about you Tora's chakra," or rather Namiashi Raidou's chakra, she supposed, "would get all panicked and angry and upset. I didn't exactly have access to expansive resources to find you, but I used what I had."

And she was glad of it, now. Apparently she owed Suzuki Tama for continuing her efforts, even when Sansa– and her money– had disappeared.

Also, if she'd got the timing of Tenzo's story right, apparently Root was responsible for Kakashi's sudden absence– which was just another reason why she was glad that Danzo was now dead.

"...but why?" Kakashi asked hoarsely. "Why would you look for me? What have I ever done for you?"

Sansa looked at him in slight bewilderment.

"You've protected my brother and I all our lives," she said. "You want us. You're our Pack."

Kakashi flinched away from her, something desperately vulnerable visible in his single (Stark) grey eye even as his scent soured in terror and grief and something terribly like hope.

Sansa kindly did not push, allowing Kakashi to shut down, burying his emotions the way Arya would when she became overwhelmed, reverting to an expressionless mask, nothing but cold blankness. When Arya was in such a state, protecting herself from vulnerability by sinking deep into her Faceless Man training until there was very little left about her that was human, Sansa knew to keep her close, keep her with her pack, her family, but without forcing it on her, letting her drift around the edges until she found herself again, providing an anchor without a chain.

She could give Kakashi that same space. She could carefully curl against him, let him rest his hand against the curve of her neck while she leaned against his shoulder, let Tenzo carefully wrap his arm around her waist so that his fingers brushed against Kakashi's back, and bundled between the heat and safety radiating off them both Sansa let herself finally drift off to sleep.

As the sun rose the following morning, painting the sky in soft, rosy shades of pink and orange, Sansa was the last to wake; both Kakashi and Tenzo talking above her in low voices. Tenzo's arm was still gently wrapped around her and Sansa's face was pressed against the curve of Kakashi's neck with his hand in her hair. She quickly sat up, leaning forwards to rub her cheek against Kakashi's, even if it was behind a mask, before instinctively leaning across to do the same to Tenzo. She and Tenzo both froze for a moment before they both went red and pretended it never happened, Tenzo turning back to Kakashi and continuing their conversation.

"According to the last report the Hokage received," Kakashi said, sounding a little bit too amused, "Jiraiya should be about a day's run North of here."

Sansa's eyes narrowed. Jiraiya– she remembered him. The Hokage hadn't wanted to let him take custody of her and Naruto and he had agreed but on the condition that Danzo was banned from having any hand in raising them, though he clearly hadn't bothered to actually check and make sure that the Hokage followed through on his word. And for his negligence, it wasn't Jiraiya who paid the price.

Sansa could forgive Kakashi because Kakashi had been a child who had had no legal rights to them, and yet despite that, he had still been around, he had still protected them and he had still fought for them, had tried to gain custody. Jiraiya had been chosen by their parents to look after them, he had had a legal responsibility to them which he had given up, and he had then abandoned them, turning around and never looking back. That abandonment? She could not forget it. And she would not forgive it.

"Why do we need this Jiraiya?" she asked, a touch sharper then she meant to, only just remembering that she shouldn't know the connection between her, Naruto and Jiraiya. Kakashi hesitated for a moment then clearly decided that it was a secret not worth keeping.

"He's technically your legal guardian," he said. For a moment, Sansa's chakra lashed out, icy enough to burn and shattering the ground beneath her feet before she reeled it back in, taking deep, calming breaths.

"My apologies," she said, through sharp, gritted teeth. "Please continue."

Continuing looked like it was the last thing Kakashi felt like doing. He did so anyway. "Jiraiya travels a lot for his duties for Konoha," he said, very carefully. "He left instructions for your care. Part of those instructions involved not letting Danzo be involved in raising or training you. As he is one of the Hokage's students as well as your legal guardian, I hope that if we bring him back with us to confront the Hokage there will be some significant leeway afforded to us, in regards to the whole... situation."

Sansa frowned. "Shouldn't the bloodline theft and secret army of stolen clan children and orphans be enough?" she asked.

"It would be," Kakashi said, "if I'd known about that before I attacked Danzo. And although I suspected from my time in Root, I only knew about you. And the Sandaime isn't going to be happy with me about uncovering Danzo's transgressions, so I have to prove that what was happening with you was illegal too, that just because the Hokage sanctioned it, doesn't mean it was sanctioned."

"Alright," Sansa nodded. "Fine. Let's find Jiraiya." She then smiled. "But I know a faster way to travel then running."

She'd been wanting to thank the wolves for their assistance with Root anyway.

~

They reached the town Kakashi was talking about by late noon. They parted ways with the wolves several miles out, not wanting to raise any sort of alarm by approaching with such large predators, and Sansa thanked the wolves for their aid, kissing Tsukiko and Miyuki, a snow-white wolf with brilliant blue eyes that had helped in the fight against Root and Danzo, on their large muzzles, before they returned to the spirit-realm.

"Do you know any henges?" Kakashi asked her before they started heading for the town and Sansa shook her head.

"My chakra was bound from the day I was taken," she explained, shuddering at the memory of how dead the world had felt, "I only managed to break the seals during the fight in Danzo's office. But my chakra control is quite good and I'm experienced with disguises, so if you demonstrate the hand-signs to me, I should be able to achieve it."

Kakashi and Tenzo both exchanged brief looks that she couldn't quite make out before Kakashi knelt down so he was closer to her eye level. "The hand-signs are Dog, Boar, Ram," he explained, demonstrating them slowly. Sansa nodded, copying them without chakra until he nodded his approval. "You need to picture in exact detail what you want to look like and let the illusion slide over you."

"Okay," Sansa nodded, determined. It took her several tries, but eventually she managed to get her chakra settled how she wanted it, after getting Kakashi to demonstrate and feeling with her own chakra how he shaped his. She copied Kaeru's face and figure, mostly, but delighted in creating a simpler version of one of the Southron hair-styles from her lost past; multiple braids of long, auburn hair pinned in elegant loops on the back of her head. Her kimono was a simple, common yet elegant design; white with pink and red cherry blossoms and a red obi that folded neatly into a red bow.

When they entered the town, Tenzo acted as her brother and chaperone, while Kakashi acted as her betrothed and they booked into the inn then they pretended to wander through the town while Sansa led them in the direction of the strongest chakra signature for leagues. Shockingly, it was located in a bar. Of course her godfather would be a drunkard.

As they entered the bar where the strong chakra signature was located, Sansa fought the urge to narrow her eyes. This close, it was clear to her there was something off about the chakra around her. She wasn't sure what, but her instincts had her feeling uneasy and she'd learned to listen to her instincts. Her hand was gracefully placed over Kakashi's, still playing the betrothed couple ruse, so she tapped out the code for 'potential trap' on his arm, grateful that this at least was something useful Root had taught her. Kakashi didn't stiffen, but he did twist his arm around to catch her hand in his and squeezed twice– confirmation that he understood her warning.

Jiraiya was sitting at a booth tucked away in the back of the bar, out of earshot and eyeshot of the rest of the patrons, next to a rather pretty young woman; thin and delicate-looking, with nervous, fluttering hands. She looked uncomfortable as they approached and Jiraiya frowned at them. "What are you doing here?" He groused. "Shouldn't you be in Konoha? I heard you made a real mess of things there."

"Mm," Kakashi agreed, sliding into place in the seat next to Jiraiya, "I don't suppose any of your informants have informed you why I made a mess?"

"Nobody's interested in what started it," Jiraiya snapped, apparently more frustrated then he'd originally appeared. "They're more interested in the shit-show that followed. Bloodline-theft, a secret army of stolen clan-children, unsanctioned missions–"

"And all the stolen orphans, street rats and bastard children born from whores," Sansa added softly, but no less cutting for it. "Though I'm not surprised you forgot to mention them. After all, they're very easy to overlook. I imagine it's how he got away with it for so long. Nobody cares about the likes of us."

"Us?" Jiraiya's eyes sharpened. So did his companion's, who no longer looked at all shy or nervous. "You're Root?"

"Yes," Kakashi said, and the snarl in his voice was just barely contained. "Shouldn't you say hello to your goddaughter, Jiraiya?"

It was almost satisfying to see the colour drain from Jiraiya's face.

No, actually– it was satisfying.

"No," he whispered.

"Yes," Kakashi said mercilessly.

"Sensei wouldn't," Jiraiya protested. "He promised."

"He lied," Sansa said flatly, letting enough of Kurama's chakra flare to turn her eyes fire-bright and slit-pupiled for a heartbeat. "Does that surprise you?"

Jiraiya let out a shaky breath, his head falling forwards onto his hands. Sansa looked pitilessly at him for a moment before turning her attention to his companion, studying her. The longer she'd sat here, the more she was convinced– the wrongness that she'd been feeling since she'd entered the bar was coming from this woman. Because her chakra felt like a civilian's, but this woman wasn't a civilian. Not with how she'd been listening with rapt attention, not with how she'd gone stiff and sharp-eyed when Sansa had used Kurama's chakra, just the barest scent of wariness, the slightest tang of fear.

Not with how still she'd gone at the mention of Root.

"So, what alias are you using here, kunoichi-san?" She asked with a polite smile. The woman blinked.

"That's quite presumptuous of you, kunoichi-san," she said, in a very whispery sort of voice.

"I'm rather sick of lies," Sansa replied. "I'm sure you can understand why."

The shinobi in disguise looked at her for a moment before dipping her head. "I'm going by the alias Setsu," she said softly, and Sansa was very aware of how Kakashi and Tenzo were watching their exchange closely.

Setsu– meaning loyalty, faithfulness, fidelity. An interesting choice of name, especially for someone hiding their chakra and wearing a disguise.

Then again, was Sansa not doing the very same?

"A pleasure to meet you, Setsu-san," Sansa greeted her politely. "I am going by Sansa."

"A pleasure, Sansa-san," Setsu murmured.

"Why are you here, Kakashi?" Jiraiya demanded, apparently running out of patience.

"To get you to fix your mess," Kakashi said coldly.

"You mean to get me to fix your mess," Jiraiya corrected.

"His mess?" Sansa hissed, abandoning her study of Setsu for the moment and turning back to the white-haired man she'd been doing her best to ignore, for fear of the poison that would drip from her mouth. "You abandoned us, our sole teenage caretaker was viciously murdered for being our caretaker, the orphanage threw us out, the Hokage traded me off to that monster Danzo, Naruto was left alone to be raised by whores and criminals while I was raised alongside a child I would one day have to murder or be murdered by, and then– then Kakashi saved me! Not you! Not the village! Kakashi did! And now you, the person my parents trusted to love and provide for and protect Naruto and I, says that the he should have just left me there instead? Minato would be ashamed."

Jiraiya, who had been steadily paling as she flayed him with her words, blanched. "How do you know that name!?" he demanded, as if she was the one in the wrong.

Kakashi, meanwhile, had moved faster than Sanaa's eyes could track, clearing the table the moment Minato's name had left her lips and grabbing the woman by the neck, a kunai pressed to her throat. But he wasn't faster than the woman– moving just as quickly as he had, she had a kunai in her hand the very second he'd moved, with its sharp edge now pressed up against the artery in Kakashi's thigh. 

Tenzo and Sansa both froze, but Jiraiya didn't seem perturbed.

"Relax, Kakashi," he said tiredly. "She's one of Konoha's highest ranked spies, only here for information about Danzo, she's not a threat to the twins' safety. Her security clearance is probably higher than yours. We can trust her."

"This is Minato and Kushina's daughter we're talking about," Kakashi said icily. "Are you willing to bet her life on that trust?"

"I am," Jiraiya said firmly. "She's loyal to Konoha."

"That's interesting," Kakashi said, his tone almost mocking. "Because last I heard, Uchiha Itachi was an S-rank missing-nin."

A/N: Surprise! Another update! And a cliffhanger, because I'm cruel like that! But I love you all, really - thank you for all the lovely comments, even if I don't reply, please know that I read and appreciate them all xoxo