66: A Storm Underneath

With all things, it appeared, there was an accompanying cost that must be paid. Choices with consequences, opportunities gained and lost.

Sumika had been aware of this fact since she first learned the reasons for her survival on Mt. Shumisen, and the sacrificial price that had bought her freedom. Her current situation served to illustrate the point even further.

Evening had long since shifted to nightfall at the Senju Estate, Sumika herself having been escorted to a guest bedroom after a short but serious series of conversations. Conversations that throughout the night had occupied the girl's thoughts.

Feeling neither need nor desire for it, Sumika forwent any attempts at sleeping, instead staring up at the winter sky from the balcony outside the simple wooden room. She sat atop the balcony's guardrail, which lent her a vantage at least three stories in height, overlooking the peaceful forests and gardens tinted grey in the moonlight. A few faint lights and noises were detectable in the distance, fragments of the overwhelming bustle and life that was the sprawling village of Konoha.

With this muted backdrop, every moment lost in contemplation brought with it new concerns to consider as she replayed memories the evening's events in her mind. New opportunities and.... new potential threats.

Lady Mito had outlined the main points thoroughly, though the most important aspects pertained to a difference in treatment and status. The Senju, a prestigious and founding clan of Konoha... a dwindling clan which had certain duties and expectations of all their members which could, and likely would, place Sumika in grave danger. Exactly the opposite of appealing.

On the other hand, the Uzumaki of Uzushiogakure1Commonly shortened to Uzushio. Village Hidden by Whirling Tides / Village Hidden by Eddies. Secretive Shinobi village home to the Uzumaki Clan. The military village which dominates The Land of Whirlpools were distant and secretive allies of Konoha. Foreigners here in a time of war, seldom seen and seldom ever understood. Apparently, no small amount of friction had formed between the allies over the past few years, though the reasons for this did not seem entirely clear to Sumika. Lady Mito's tone had been particularly grim while mentioning it, but Sumika accepted that the complexities of international diplomacy were a bit beyond the immediate concern. She filed the topic away for future questions nonetheless.

"I will not hide it. You have appeared here at a most volatile time. A time in which nations and leaders cry out for power, a time of war where strength is coveted even at great cost. The powers granted by your heritage are no exception... Indeed many would seek to exploit or harm you, even here, regardless of your will. I... after everything, this is an outcome I cannot tolerate."

Sumika's expression had not changed, but she felt the blackness of darker emotions in her heart as she recalled Lady Mito's words. In some ways, having it said so explicitly made it easier for Sumika to justify the reservations she harbored. Yet at the same time, the fact that someone would so patiently explain the details and dangers to her increased a desire to trust in their aid.

The vehemence and conviction in the old woman's voice indicated a certain sense of sincerity which Sumika found reassuring. It seemed entirely true that Lady Mito had the girl's best interests in mind, and that on this matter there was a disconnect between the elder herself and Konoha as a village.

But even still, Sumika had considered a possibility, albeit a disturbing one, that the old matriarch's words may have been designed to manipulate her into feeling this way. If she did not already spend so much time examining her own thoughts and feelings, Sumika doubted she would have even been able to detect such a tactic.

The girl knew for a fact that her experience in dealing with people was limited, and that others may take advantage of this inexperience without her even knowing. So it was that, when it came to other people, especially unfamiliar ones, there was almost always a recurrent and tiring feeling that the girl doubted she would ever truly be rid of. A tiredness unrelated to bodily fatigue.

It was at times like these that Sumika fervently desired quiet and solitude. Both of which she was relieved to have access to during the night.

However, amidst all the choices and troubles facing her, it was true that tonight Lady Mito had only asked what Sumika wanted. For Sumika's opinion. For her preferences. Never were any demands made of her, only cautions and patient explanation.

That was partly what made things so difficult. The freedom to forge her own future was itself hard-earned, but Sumika had long begun to realize now that keeping her freedom to choose might prove more difficult still, if she was unable to confidently decide for herself. A village, a clan, relatives, allies... they too carried prices and costs, ones Sumika wasn't certain she wanted to pay.

What do you want?What is your will?Which would you prefer? What are your priorities? How can we help?

These were questions Sumika deeply appreciated, but as yet had almost no experience in answering. Her plans had usually formed on a weekly basis at best, let alone where she saw herself in five years! How was anyone supposed to anticipate their desires or circumstances years into the future? Mere survival had been her primary concern for long enough...

What she wanted now, and what she wished to do next... Sumika had no true answer for Lady Mito's questions. To an extent where Sumika had to wonder if the point of asking was just to get her thinking about it in the first place. That was likely just a comforting delusion, though.

Lady Mito's unusual condition... and her behavior, they were both mystifying in retrospect. And while Sumika had a general idea about the nature of this concept called 'Family' now, she also recognized the gaps in her understanding. Lady Mito, Sumika, and... Tsunade. Their apparent relation to each other, the looming claims of debts owed and past mistakes... there was a lot more to unravel there before Sumika felt certain one way or another how to describe their relationship.

But still, Sumika had managed to convey the foremost concerns on her mind. And that had apparently been enough for tonight.

"Don't feel you have to choose everything right this moment. Think about it overnight. I also suspect... that there are others you will wish to meet before giving me a final answer. For now, you have given me plenty to work with regarding your own preferences. So please, take some time for yourself."

That had been a proposition the girl could gladly agree to, but even still, the matriarch's words brought even more wonders to mind.

So much so that Sumika almost forgot to savor the packet of pastries she'd saved from earlier. Almost forgot.

Shortly after the girl's eventual departure, an aura of gravitas descended upon the chamber. Though she lay in silence, a quietly tense look of contemplation adorned Mito's face. It was only after spending quite some time in this state that, amidst the serenity, a single sentence slipped through her sombre lips,

"Yes... yes, I can work with that."

Those words reflected both truth and confidence. Sumika's words, demeanor, appearance... it all battered at the elder's conscience relentlessly.

Mito spared no more attention to her own troubled heart for now, devoting her entire focus on the work at hand. Her duty, for Sumika's sake.

Navigating networks of nuance and therein weaving webs of wiles... such were tasks best befitting those of age and experience, a specific and skilled demographic in which few could claim greater prestige than Uzumaki Mito. Few, anyway, who maintained any sense of pride or ethics. For those who played the game of politics, victory could come in many forms, but those who abandoned the fundamental rules of the game would eventually succumb to delusions or paranoia. Most of those types would ruin themselves, but they were truly insidious.

Mito had maintained her high-stakes role in this game for decades, but to continue doing so whilst also bearing the burden of a jinchūriki was untenable. The beast's hatred and the loss of her husband meant that a decline in her mental stability was inevitable. It was one of the main reasons Mito had retired from Konoha's active governance in the first place.

That had proven to be a mistake in entirely unforeseen ways, taking a toll on Mito from which she never fully recovered. Perhaps... that had been someone's intent all along. There was never any shortage of enemies in the shadows.

But right now, Mito's old skills had been called upon in the twilight hours of her own life. Called upon to aid a precious child, a survivor of her greatest mistake. Failure or negligence in such a scenario was unacceptable.

"We will need to move tonight, then, and soon..."

With the matriarch's uttered words, a pair of cloaked figures flickered into a kneeling position by her bedside as if summoned by mere intent alone. They had worked together for so long now, that perhaps intent really was all it took.

"Your orders, my Lady?" a woman's patient voice inquired, muffled slightly behind her mask. Blotches of red stained the armored glove of her sword hand, a recent and wet redness which threatened to drip onto the wood floor. It seems there had been trouble already.

Allowing her slitted eyes to gently close once more, Mito also let her lips twitch into a brief smile. Her retainers had also grown sharp with experience. Sharp in both body and mind. They had surely reached conclusions of their own, especially if they had already needed to take action.

How troublesome it all would be, in these next few crucial hours...No, she could not allow herself to think this way. This much was nothing, only the well due minimum.

Reaching a hand up from her lap, Mito leisurely drew down the bedcover from her neck, exposing the dim and angry red glow of the jutsu formulas encompassing her body. Her efforts had been successful, but it was in the end only a partial success. Still, everything for the children's sake, for the future...

"First, in all plans you should account for my extended immobility. With my current state, and the upcoming sessions with Kushina, well... call it a week at least."

""Affirmative."" The two ANBU glanced to each other while responding, one further adding, "Please recover well."

Mito already knew of the concerns they must feel, and they doubtless knew that she knew. But nonetheless, that they spoke up anyway was testament to relationship built over their years of service together. Still, Mito could not indulge herself by even tacitly acknowledging such a request.

"Next, your report for the detected intrusion."

"A spy, likely of Kumogakure2Hidden Cloud. Skilled in stealth, but not exactly with technique that could be called a major threat. Suspected as a long-term infiltrator." the woman with the patient voice spoke again.

"You have handled it already then?"

"Handled, yes." this time a wiry masculine voice belonging to the other ANBU, "Disposed of without a trace. The problem is... he was not logged as entering the village's outer barrier..."

Both ANBU let out a hissed breath at that, hesitating. That was understandable, given the treacherous implications of such a thing.

"It is almost certain that the intruder was... deliberately allowed access past the village's barriers."

Mito did not allow herself to sigh, but she sure felt like it, "More meddling, hmmm? Someone dares to mingle with agents of a hostile nation, in wartime, and has the means to sabotage security measures."

The ANBU maintained an uneasy silence.

Mito understood the meaning of their unspoken words. Her late husband's philosophy, the Will of Fire, was deeply ingrained into Konoha's culture. But those ideals were not practiced nearly as well or as often as they were preached. War does that to a country, and Konoha had itself no shortage of conflicts and contradictions.

Politics and war often begat terrible choices, but such flagrant disregard for the potential consequences was terribly concerning.

This sounded a lot like typical wartime profiteering. Plant a spy under a false flag, claim no knowledge of the info collected by said spy, then leave not a shred of proof. Internal meddling between the clans, or even the Council itself? Then again, it may truly have been a foreigner allowed in by treachery. Too many possibilities, and none of them good.

The Hokage was ostensibly supposed to curb this behavior and mitigate the potential for dark consequences, and every key figure in the village knew it. Senju Tobirama had performed this role with masterful pragmatism as the Second Hokage, though not without problems of his own.

However, with Sarutobi Hiruzen at the helm, willful ignorance and bilateral politics had gradually muddled all sense of governmental accountability. The noble clans were often willing to look the other way if suitable persuasion was offered.... in various forms. The recent internal conflict within the Uchiha Clan was perhaps a prime example.

Yet since the result of such policies had generally been an era of relative peace and prosperity, there had been little support for reform. That is, until the war laid bare these numerous festering flaws.

The young fought, and in doing so suffered innumerable personal tragedies. Dan and Tsunade, their generation saw the flaws in the village's leadership through personal experience. And often they did not survive it. But through this loss of their comrades and family, they had pressed for change. A loud and powerful pressure that highlighted the failings and shortcomings of the Konoha Council, in turn revealing an even darker truth.

Mito hadn't wanted to believe it. She hadn't wanted to believe that her husband's village could so warp his ideals. She wondered if her own twisted mind was seeing demons in every shadow.

But the situation with Katō Dan made it undeniable. Konoha's Council, or at least some elements of it, supported stability during wartime enough to attempt assassination on reformist leaders.

Not that there was any direct proof. Just gaps in the records. Coincidental disappearances. Collateral damage in war. A mission gone wrong.

The potential fallout from this particular case could have been so utterly ruinous, not least of all for what it would have done to Tsuna.

If Mito allowed herself to express the rage within her, she would doubtless be blinded by it. So egregious was this offense, that it almost wasn't worth considering any longer. Mito knew just how high in Konoha's leadership that tacit approval of these tactics went. It was perhaps the height of Hiruzen's arrogance.

Placing her fingers to her forehead and pressing upon the bridge of her nose, Mito spat out a disgusted sneer,

"Arrogance makes one stupid, and stupidity makes one even more arrogant. It beggars belief. I should hope none of us ever suffer such."

The ANBU merely bowed their heads in response. After all, what could they say?

For Mito, the only question now was what she would do about it. Indeed, that was always the question. Decisions and actions mattered most now.

The stress of it all tore at her. She was not nearly as well equipped to deal with all of this as she had been in her youth.

Mito was retired, in as much of a sense as was possible for someone of her unending responsibilities. She had lost many throughout her life, but those she had left were fiercely cherished, even if they could not be entirely protected. Such was the way of this world.

It may not be feasible to 'flip the table', so to speak, on Hiruzen's reign, but she could still surely tip the scales.

"Letters. I have many letters to write, so prepare parchment and ink."

She had work to do, only after would she indulge the luxury of releasing her emotions.