12

Chapter 12: eleven: salt in the wound and eyes on the wallsSummary:

Mistakes don't shape you. The way you react to them does.

Notes:

from here on out it's all downhill folks wait what

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Thank you so much for all the love and support I've been getting! Have this eventful chapter as an apology for the shortness (and cliffhanger) of the last one.

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I do not own Naruto.

Becoming a Hokage 101

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Section Three

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Chapter Eleven

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There was a time when I'd let it get to me.

Back when war was still a faraway concept in my mind and my only friends were my brothers and a reluctant Kakashi, the clan's council had begun to throw the words 'genius' and 'clan heir' around. Even then I'd been appalled to take the clan heir spot from Tooru, but the truth was that I did catch up on things quicker than other clan children, even if it wasn't truly intentional.

I am, however, an adult in a clan child's body, and things came to me in the way that older people naturally get things. I was acutely aware of my body mass and the things I could and couldn't do; I was eager to please, but I wasn't reckless; I'd already had an idea of what chakra and ninja were, and it all meant that I simply didn't have to work as hard or be reckless and learn from my mistakes.

I'd almost thought I really was a genius, and then came Kakashi.

Kakashi is a true prodigy in a way people don't quite realize. If I had thought I caught up on things fast, I definitely wasn't prepared for him to take half the time I did, with the added bonus of making it look as if it were as easy as sticking a leaf on your forehead - and that applied to just about anything ranging from taijutsu to fuinjutsu.

'Ah. So this is what a true genius is like.'

I remember thinking quite bitterly after seeing him effortlessly applying fuinjutsu concepts that were (and still are, honestly) complete gibberish to me.

I am not and never was a genius. What I had was a cheat - two, if you count being reborn in a clan; I knew things because I'd lived all of this before. Kakashi knew things because his brain processed everything much faster and efficiently than everyone else. Even that sad, sad boy, with long black hair in a ponytail and the weight of the world on his shoulders didn't learn things as effortlessly as Kakashi did. One had been pushed to do so, and the other simply did.

Back then, making mistakes left an acid taste in my mouth, a constant reminder that things would never be easy for me, and that I'd been foolish to think it'd be so. Father had taken one look at the ugly scowl on my face and sighed - a long, suffering sound, one that implied he'd seen similar cases one too many times.

Back then, he had told me to learn from my mistakes and move on, but it was a long time before I truly accepted who I was and who I wanted to be.

Back then, when mistakes wouldn't cost my life, it'd been easy to believe it'd always stay that way.

"Watch out!"

Another tree goes down, splinters both clattering against and passing through the half formed armor in my skin. There's a loud ringing in my ears, and everything's too fast-

Too fast, too fast-

"Leaf Hurricane!"

Gai, the absolute angel that he is, intercepts an unknown ninja's attack about to hit me in the back. My second mistake is to keep trying to form the armor while looking for the hum of my friends' iron in their blood, and it costs me dearly - now there's a louder, constant ringing that brings me to my knees and nearly renders me useless.

There's a familiar hand on my back - 'Genma' - and then I'm being guided to the sidelines, the boy's taller form hovering over me. I can see his mouth moving and the worried frown on his face, but all I hear is an incessant ringing that makes me more and more nauseous by the second.

'Ah. They did something to my ears.' I think belatedly and a bit detachedly. Genma's shaking my shoulders lightly, making me pay attention to the words he's forming.

"The senseis are taking the brunt of the attack-"

As if on cue, a white flash and what must have been an explosion from Genma's flinch punctuate the sentence, but the boy braves on.

"-and I know you're hurt, but we're outnumbered and backup is on its way. We need to hold down the fort."

There's grim determination in his face, and for a minute he looks decades older than his twelve years. A whisper of iron as familiar as my own tells me team Minato is off to the side, holding back attacks from-

-from about twenty unidentified ninja around the area, and bile rises up my throat.

Gai arrives on a flourish next to me, and gives me a reassuring smile, even if he's panting.

Gai.

Panting.

'Shit.'

Genma shakes me one more time, and if I weren't so close to just welcoming the creeping darkness I'd have been offended.

"Formation C!"

Muscle memory is a wonderful thing, and I thank Choza-sensei for all the times he's made us go over formations time and time again. Even if my mind isn't quite processing things and I still feel like vomiting my intestines out, my body automatically falls into a well-known formation of our team.

In a loose triangle formation, Genma automatically takes the lead and launches a series of long-ranged senbon attacks on some ninja. A few get hit, and it's only because of Gai's ridiculous speed that he manages to knock them all down while they're distracted, blurring in and out of sight as we keep moving forward.

'Time to pull your weight, Sarutobi.'

I take a deep breath in, willing my brain to push the pain and the nausea to a corner to be dealt with later. I open my eyes again, and even though I still can't hear anything past the loud ringing, strategizing is a tad easier. My skin drops the half-formed armor and I keep a careful, but stable flow of chakra to my hands. Effortlessly, a thin block of iron forms in each palm-

'Loose arms. Loose legs. Put all of that flexibility training to use.'

Bonelessly, my arms spread out like a whip as I twist and both blocks of metal hit a couple of ninja who were about to gain in on Gai, and they fall to the ground like sacks of potatoes. The element of surprise plus the unexpected strength behind a metal bind around their wrists coming out of nowhere is enough to take them out of the game for now, but everything's too fast-

-too fast-

There's no time to see their reaction.

Two more blocks already in my palms, I throw both at a tall man who had been about to strike Genma.

'Get away from them.'

Another two go down.

'Get away from them.'

I reinforce the iron bind in their wrists through chakra manipulation and throw another at their shin, effectively preventing them from moving from their position.

Genma is getting tired, but keeps on throwing senbon at key points in the attackers' bodies. Pain and nausea are pushed to a far away corner, adrenaline making block after block form in my hands and throwing them at the distracted ninjas. Gai is a blur, knocking those who are immobile unconscious and occasionally giving Genma cover.

'Get away-'

Uchiha chakra - hot, searing, painful - overwhelms my senses for a second, making me falter.

It's enough.

Blinding pain blossoms in my left leg, and I vaguely register screaming and falling to the ground.

Familiar lightning chakra crackles even through the now louder ringing in my ears-

A well-known green blur-

A yellow flash-

Darkness falls upon me like a blanket, and I can do little but welcome it.

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Waking up the first time is a slow, painful process.

The bedding and the atmosphere aren't strangers, nor is the person sitting next to the hospital bed.

"Chiyuki."

My mother's tone is unreadable, as is her face. Carefully, she guides me into a sitting position, putting a cup of water with a straw in front of me. I swallow a couple of mouthfuls, struggling against rising bile.

My body feels heavy and demands to shut down.

I obey.

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The second time is a bit easier.

"Chiyuki."

Sitting in the plastic chair is Tooru with an expression he no doubt learned from our mother. It's thunderous, worried, halfway through crying, and it has no place in his young face.

I can't remember the last time he called me by my name.

"Tooru-nii." I whisper, voice hoarse through the disuse and the bile and the knot in my throat.

He slowly moves forward as hugs me as tightly as he can without aggravating my injuries.

I only realize I'm crying when I choke out a sob, tears and snot smearing all over his shirt.

My brother says nothing, and it terrifies me.

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I wake up home the third time.

Without even opening my eyes, I smell our apple trees and feel the hum of iron in the clanspeople. There's bustling around as usual, but a terse edge surrounds the main house. It threatens to come crashing down, drowning all in its wake and leaving no survivors.

It also feels like a warm blanket, familiar and welcoming and scary in its voracity, in its protectiveness and determination.

Belatedly, I realize both my parents and my brothers are home, and a part of me marvels at the rarity of the moment.

'Why is it that the whole family had to be home when I'm injured?'

I open my eyes and see the exhausted face of my father.

"Father." I rasp out, and yet again a cup of water with a straw is guided to my lips.

The energy suffocates me at the same time it calms me down.

Sitting up is much easier this time around without the pain and the nausea. The only discomfort is in the soreness of my body, the kind that comes after pushing it to the limit and demanding more.

In the heat of battle and the desperation fueling my movements, it'd been easy to forget my body was that of a seven year old - and now I was paying the price.

"Chiyuki." Weariness, worry, exhaustion-

-a will of iron-

(-of iron? Was it not fire?-)

My father exhales heavily, and for a second the entire house releases its breath with him. He regards me with tired, tired eyes, the kind of tired sleep can't ever fix.

I wonder if I'm going to send him to an early grave.

Mother enters the room as silently and deadly as always, softness in her steps but steel in her eyes. She sends a brief glare at my father, who seems to hunch his shoulders in response.

'Something's not right.'

My mother sets the cups of tea she'd been carrying down and carefully hands me one. The comforting smell of chamomile wafts up to my nose and warms me from the inside out, relaxing my muscles. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Biwako grudgingly give another cup to my father, who accepts with an incline of his head.

As I take a careful sip, their eyes meet, and a whole conversation is had before me without anyone even saying anything. Finally, my mother sighs, and the room gets warmer.

"How are you feeling?"

I blink slowly, taking a moment to process the question. Aside from the soreness I'm physically okay, although there is something nagging at the back of my mind, telling me that's not all there's to it. It simmers and boils and gurgles just out of my reach, and I know the answer's right before me.

"Other than feeling sore, I'm alright." I reply honestly, meeting my mother's eyes head on. Something in her seems to settle down even as she grips her own cup of tea tighter. "What happened?"

My parents share a long, meaningful look, until my mother sighs again.

"I am not aware of the details. For those, you'll have to ask those who were there. I know only of what I've read in the reports." I nod, taking another sip of the tea. "Although Kumo has denied any involvement in it, a few ninjas in their attire were captured amongst the twenty two that attacked the outpost."

I feel both my eyebrows raise, confusion and dread filling me for a moment. Why would anyone send over twenty ninjas to attack an outpost with ten people in it? And let's not even mention the fact that six of those were genin, it'd be a massacre-

I open my mouth in horror as my parents' faces turn grim.

"They knew." I whisper, for some reason not daring to speak any louder than that.

"There was a breach in security, yes. The enemies knew of the change in shifts and who exactly was there." Detached coldness seeps through my mother's voice, and I can't blame her- not when I feel myself doing the same, shoving down any feelings of fear in exchange for the clinical coldness of logic. "Very few attackers survived. Although they were great in number, only a handful were of chunin rank. After backup arrived, no one had the chance to flee."

'Expendable.'

Whoever the mind behind the attack was, they weren't expecting to really do any damage or even kill anyone. To send twenty-two people to attack ten-

No. This was calculated.

Even if they weren't much more skilled than genin, such a number is nothing to scoff at. Whether the objective had been to scare or to scout, it doesn't matter in the long run. There were few survivors and even fewer would be willing to talk about it, especially if they really are from Kumo - and from the looks of it, no one is searching particularly hard for them.

It feels too much like testing the waters at the same time it feels like a provocation.

"Do we know their objective?"

My mother closes her eyes for a moment, something pained and desperate coming over her features. My father seems to have all the fight leave him in that instant, and dread fills my gut once more.

"We suspect they were there for two reasons: one, to shake Konoha morale; two, to capture you."

Searing hot rage fills my brain at the same time freezing fear does.

"Whoever leaked the information knew it all; they knew the change in shifts, who would be there, and they knew of the Iron Release." Father speaks for the first time in a while, voice rough and hard. This speaks too much of sabotage from the inside-

-worse than that. It speaks of treason so deep and so raw that it shakes the very ground Konoha was built upon.

The thing is that my Iron Release is not common knowledge even inside Konoha, and it's definitely not something foreign ninja would know about. Whoever knows this has either been allowed to see me train or has heard people speak about it-

It had to be someone close to me, or to the family. Someone my parents trusted so implicitly they'd never expect something like this. Someone that's so intrinsically woven in Konoha itself that no seeds of doubt had ever been planted.

Something in my head nearly yells in frustration, the same nagging feeling demanding attention once again. It's made of claws and tentacles and vicious teeth that tries to climb its way out by force, and it's so desperate and so ruthless a headache immediately blooms in the back of my eyes. I am well aware there's a part of me - the part that holds all memories and flashbacks from Before - that clearly knows whoever is behind it, but another part of me - the one that shields me from the onslaught of information from a life that is no longer mine - refuses to budge, a strange tug of war made of self preservation and fear.

"The main objective wasn't to capture you, but they were ordered to do so if the chance came. Their primary goal was to divide and conquer - to instill fear so close to home." Now that my father has started to talk he doesn't seem to be able to stop, and my mom looks vaguely sick. "There are foreign ninja who know of your chakra release, and we were made aware of this fact."

"Why are you telling me all of this?" I frown at the now lukewarm tea in my hands, the last thing from my mind being relaxation. I'm pretty sure all of this information is supposed to be confidential, even if I'm the hokage's child.

"Because you will not leave the village in a while, but you are so headstrong we needed you to understand the importance of it."

"Another team will fill your place at the outpost."

A part of me is amazed at how well my parents seem to know how my mind works. Another part, a bigger one, rages in injustice and bitterness.

'So the hokage's daughter won't leave the village because it's dangerous but it's alright to send in other lambs to the slaughterhouse?'

"What about my team?"

"You will all be transferred to in-village missions."

"I hope you are aware this is non-negotiable, Chiyuki."

'If I didn't have this motherfucking stupid ass shit ridiculous chakra release-'

"Where are they?"

"They began at the Administration Building yesterday."

"It's where you'll go once I'm certain you're able to."

'Because of me my entire team will be dragged down-'

"How long have I been out?"

There's something struggling inside of me. Something both fearful and feared and it fuels the bitterness. It feeds the part of me that knows everything that happens in this world - my world - but is held back. It hardens and polishes the Hokage's Daughter Mask. It threatens to swallow me whole, to consume and control, and I wonder briefly if this is what insanity feels like.

"You were asleep for a week."

Biwako explains something about chakra and stamina and adrenaline and wounds, but I do not need excuses or explanations formed on hunches.

'I need answers.'

The Mask clicks into place.

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The sight that greets me two days later is made of something like this:

A worried-looking Genma who can't quite hide the relief he feels when he sees me, but who also seems to be stopping himself from crowding too much;

An excited-looking Gai who is being held by the back of his green suit by none other than our oldest teammate, ready to yell about spring and youth the minute he's free;

A relieved-looking Rin who is halfway through her tears and almost runs to meet me, but The Mask hasn't been taken off once since I properly woke up and that seems to keep her away;

A strangely subdued Obito who certainly looks glad to see me, but who otherwise seems pale and small under the lights of the admin building;

And lastly, but not leastly, Choza-sensei beaming at me in all his glory - and despite The Mask, I can't help but feel warm all over.

Kakashi and Minato are not so oddly enough missing, and I suspect the blonde took my friend for some training no one else knows of. Go figure.

The Mask shifts and allows a smile to bloom on my face. It's small but genuine, and that seems to be enough for Rin to dash forward and hug me to her chest. I'm prepared for it, though, and feel proud of myself when I don't even flinch.

"Chiyuki!"

"MOST YOUTHFUL BLOSSOM-"

"Take it easy, Gai."

"Hey, glad to see you're doing better."

Like a dam just broke, I'm suddenly surrounded by warmth and lightness, well-wishes and happy tears, teasing and the booming laugh of my sensei. I get the nearly overwhelming urge to shed The Mask just this once-

-'I'm amongst allies, after all'-

But something stops me. That something is the same memory that wants to claw its way out to the surface but cannot, something purely based on instinct that whispers 'the walls have eyes and ears' to me. Even if I am safe and amongst friends-

-'even so'-

The Mask stays in place and no one notices.

-'I need answers.'

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Work at the Administration Building is, as one would suspect, filled with paperwork after paperwork. Everything needs to be written down and sent to Archives accordingly, and there is no space for error. Regardless of the surprising pressure on those who work here, teams Choza and Minato (sans two of its members) were divided into groups for the sake of the sanity of the supervisor.

The place is also the Hokage's Tower, and damn if that wasn't entirely intentional.

"Sasakibe-oji." I greet the older man, a smile pulling at my lips effortlessly through The Mask. Even if the walls have eyes and ears, Sasakibe-oji was someone who had never made any bells ring in my head, and I took comfort in that. He also looks greatly amused at seeing Gai.

"Hello, children. Are you ready for today's mission?"

Gai, as he does everything else, nods his head with vigour and nearly starts on another rant on youth until Genma lays a hand on his shoulder.

"Good morning, Sasakibe-san. We came to pick up our mission."

The older man shuffles some papers, although I have no doubt everything is neatly organized in his head. His chakra is familiar and soothing, and I take comfort in being surrounded by trusted people. There's much, much more iron than people in this room, and it makes my skin crawl.

'Eyes and ears everywhere.'

It comes to me before I can stop it.

The same thing that demands to be noticed lets me know there are five more unknown people in the room, but there's no indication of any chakra whatsoever. These people, whoever they are, are so skilled in hiding their presence nothing else can be detected other than the natural flow of their blood.

'Anbu.'

I think even as something with claws drags its way up, only to be quickly shut down. Whether that's the seal on my forehead or my preservation instincts, I decide to not dwell on it.

"Yes, you do have a couple of tasks today. They shouldn't take much time, and I even dare say the first one might be enjoyable."

Sasakibe-oji is met with various stares of skepticism, not even Gai managing to find paperwork enjoyable. A challenge? Maybe. Necessary? Definitely.

Enjoyable? No way in hell.

The older man does nothing but smile knowingly at us, urging Genma to take the few papers with him.

"Regardless, your sensei is waiting for you on the roof. Do go there first."

It's easy to look out for Choza-sensei's hum of iron in a sea of unknown ones, and a fraction of me relaxes. My sensei is nearby, and I know he would do everything in his power to protect us. No alarms go off when I think of him, and I trust my instincts to label him as safety-protection-warmth.

Between one blink and the next, we're on the roof facing Choza-sensei and a middle-aged man who holds an ancient version of a camera. My mind immediately goes to how I looked this morning-

-a brand new scar, the first of many, a thin angry red line behind and under my left knee.

-a child with a seal on her forehead and purple bags under her eyes.

-the grey of the short-sleeved kimono that suddenly doesn't look that great of an idea, making an already pale face become even paler against the fabric.

And then Choza-sensei laughs and greets us as if we haven't seen each other just yesterday, messing up Genma's hair and straightening Gai's clothes. When I reach him, his smile is warmer than the sun, and I receive a proud nod after a brief checking.

"You look very cute, as always." He brushes the few blonde hair strands that fall out of my mini bun, expertly rearranging them to keep my bangs out of my face. "There."

"I'm not cute, sensei. I'm badass." I say in a deadpan voice, something I've learned from watching Genma. Said boy chokes and coughs, but our sensei merely laughs.

"Of course, of course! Now gather around, children. We're finally going to take our team photo."

Automatically, Choza-sensei puts an arm around each boy so that I'm sandwiched between the three, and The Mask shifts. I smile genuinely at the camera, feeling warm and content in this new family we've built. It's not perfect and we've still got many things to overcome, but being surrounded by familiar hums of iron makes me relaxed and comfortable.

"Say 'Konoha!'"

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The feeling doesn't last very long.

The very next day, a very familiar hum of iron that crackles like lightning makes itself known, and that's how I know Kakashi and Minato are back.

It's early in the morning and not many people have arrived in the admin building. Seeing as it holds a myriad of other smaller departments, I don't doubt for a second people are fighting for coffee in the communal kitchen. Sasakibe-oji is there, as usual, as well as six unknown murmurs of iron in the room. I'm not used to it still-

-'eyes and ears everywhere'-

-but each day I panic a little less. They never go away, and there're always at least three of them in the Hokage's Office floor, but I've never felt anything other than the iron in their blood, not even an inkling of an emotion or chakra fluctuation, and that somehow makes me believe they've got things under control.

The first sign that tells me Kakashi is back is Obito's scowl, which has somehow brought back some color on his cheeks. He's grumbling under his breath, and I only know one person who can make him so upset in such a short time.

The second is Minato in all his blonde glory and small but genuine smile, innocent as the cat that caught the canary. I feel his iron thrum in a normal pace, and that reassures me nothing really happened.

And then there's the boy himself, who looks obviously disgruntled even wearing a mask. His dark eyes, usually half-lidded and with a certain layer of indifference to them, are open and expressive. His iron is definitely not humming as usual, and it seems to cackle like his chakra affinity. It spasms and contracts in odd intervals, and he might as well have yelled 'I'm a walking bomb!' for the entirely village to hear.

"How nice that everyone is here! Since Rin is still working her shift at the hospital, why don't you show Kakashi the ropes while I take Obito to fill in properly his paperwork, hm?"

Minato had been addressing Team Choza as a whole, but his sky blue eyes were focused on mine and I wanted to roll my eyes at his nonexistent subtlety. Besides, he must have known our first mission of the day was to deliver unfinished paperwork to all the departments inside the admin building.

"Of course, Minato-sensei."

"COME, YOUTHFUL RIVAL!"

"Gai, please, it's too early for this."

It was easy to let Genma and Gai's voice fade in the background as I took the time to finally look at the silver-haired boy and let my chakra wash over him.

He doesn't look good, all in all. There are bags under his eyes just like mine, a rigid form and eyes that dart everywhere before inevitably finding mine again. If Minato's intention was to release some of the tension inside his body, I'm not sure it worked.

Then again, perhaps this was why he'd chosen to dump Kakashi on us.

The Mask falls for a second. I don't smile, but I feel my entire face relax. His dark eyes focus on mine and I keep my expression open and honest.

'I'm glad you're home.'

'It's good to see you.'

'I missed you.'

'I'm okay.'

I try to convey all these feelings in that one second The Mask is down, and I hope is enough. I can't afford to not wear it for long, especially not in the traitor's nest-

-'eyes and ears'-

-but Kakashi is Kakashi. The brother that's not mine by blood, but by everything else. The Mask will shift and accommodate everyone else but my three brothers, traitor around or not.

It does seem to work. The next time his eyes search for mine, they're not as haunted as they seemed.

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"There are eight departments that are a part of Administration: Archives, Mission's Desk, the Civil Affairs Office, Immigration, Buildings and Structure, Family and Children, Ninja Proceedings, and the Hokage's Office."

Somehow, it was unanimously decided that I'd be the one to give all the explanations and the boys would deliver the papers. I don't actually mind talking, since it's something I've always known, but it makes fond exasperation bloom in my chest for my two teammates.

'Some people really don't know how to be subtle, huh?'

"Our first stop is Immigration. Not many people work in each department, but together it makes for a lot, especially in the mornings when everyone wants their coffee."

Of course, it's also completely amusing to see Gai, Genma, and Obito not so secretly plotting to reveal Kakashi's face. It's something I don't condemn, but it's something I have zero interest in. Even if I didn't know what his face looked like, his business was his, and it wasn't anyone's place to wonder why.

But alas, children are children, little soldiers or not, and a little fun never hurt anybody.

Getting the paperwork to reach the appropriate person in charge isn't too much of a difficult task, seeing as every department supervisor has a small office that overlooks all the other desks in their section.

"What's the busiest department?"

"That's difficult to say. Everyone is always busy, but there are times when certain sections are busier than others. After a particularly tough winter, Civil Affairs and Buildings are some of the busiest, although I'd say the top busiest is the Hokage's Office. No matter the department, everything needs to be approved by the hokage for things to actually happen."

"Oh, my!"

Obito fakes a dramatic trip and tries to drag down Kakashi with him, but the boy next to me merely shifts to the side and keeps on walking unaffected.

"Wouldn't it be easier to make Family and Children a section within Civil Affairs?"

As we walk to Buildings and Structure, this time it's Genma who 'accidentally' spills some water on the last Hatake, but it's miraculously gone before I can blink.

"Not really. Most people that have something to do at Administration have to go through at least two departments to get things done. If it's clan business, for example, it goes to Family and Children and Ninja Proceedings. In some cases, Archives and Civil Affairs are involved too."

I nearly feel like laughing when Gai loudly proposes one of his ridiculous challenges with a penalty to the loser, but Kakashi somehow edges Obito on and the next thing I see, both my green-clad teammate and the Uchiha are on a passionate hand-walking run with their honor on the line.

"Who even decides which departments have to be involved in each case?"

"Every supervisor has their own guideline to follow. It's basically a list of things they can or cannot solve on their own. If it's not on their list, they need to look for someone who does."

After Genma decides seeing Kakashi's face isn't worth the trouble, the seven year old walking next to me continues to keep a steady flow of questions as we slowly but surely get our job done, and it raises numerous alarms in my head.

Kakashi is not talkative. Ever. He doesn't ask for information unless he has exhausted all possible sources and there's really no other way to do it. Even if he's familiar with the person, he'll seldom start a conversation and keep it going for long.

Not to mention the questions he's asking are all things he either already knows or wouldn't take long to figure out. He lived a short time under the hokage's roof, but it was enough for him to pick up on many aspects of the administration part of a village.

-'eyes and ears'-

'Shut up. This is information everyone has access to. It's not a secret.'

It makes a knot of worry and anxiousness build a home in my throat and it nearly threatens The Mask into shifting, which is not good. Kakashi is clearly not acting like himself and I have yet to tell him what I know of the attack on the border, assuming Minato hasn't told him anything.

'I wonder…'

I think nothing of it when the buzz of iron of both Gai and Obito approach us rapidly, too caught up on what might be going on inside Kakashi's head, until the Uchiha boy actually trips for real this time and my body braces to catch him-

Iron that used to hum now whirs and throbs. Between one heartbeat and the other, Obito is lying sprawled on the floor, an angry but confused look on his face. Gai looks torn between helping the fallen boy and his eternal rival, and Genma frankly just looks done.

All of that is seen and catalogued by a detached part of my mind. The part that is actively participating in the present freezes behind the mob of silver hair and rigid back that is Kakashi. The same voice that screams 'eyes and ears' yells at me to move, to shout, to do something, but iron and chakra mix in a way I've never felt before. Chakra hisses and cracks under rising tension as iron buzzes and throbs and the odd mix reminds me of faraway thunder.

It takes two seconds for me to realize it doesn't just feel like thunder; it actually is thunder I hear coming from Kakashi-

(Kakashi? Tiny, lazy Kakashi? My Kakashi?)

-and it's actually coming from his chest-

'-oh sweet gods I thought only canines could do that-'

I nearly burst out in hysterics, but The Mask presses down harder on my face and suffocates it.

-'eyes aND EARS'-

Then Sasakibe-oji promptly chops Kakashi in the middle of his silver head and everything stops at once.

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Constructive criticism is more than welcome, but if you're gonna be an asshole about it, then just don't bother.

For the record, Chiyuki's new dealings with her Iron Release is heavily based on Kuvira from Legend of Korra.