Chapter 11: ElevenNotes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
ELEVEN
"Don't be unreasonable, Hiruzen," Danzo said. "Her use of the Kyuubi's chakra at such a young age is unprecedented. Not taking advantage of such talent would be nothing short of wasteful."
Hiruzen sighed, wanting nothing more than to rub at his aching temples. This entire day had been a mess. First he'd had to deal with the matron of Konoha's orphanage screaming at him because Kakashi had murdered one of her charges and threatened another two dozen of them and now he'd spent the last hour arguing with Danzo about the fact little Fuyuko had clearly used the Kyuubi's chakra in front of too many witnesses for him to hush it up and his old friend was frothing at the mouth to have her enlisted into his shadow ANBU– or at least have her start training.
"Enough," he interrupted before Danzo could continue, sick to death of the entire conversation. "I will not change my mind on this– and don't think you can make her disappear," he warned. "I will not overlook her disappearance, Danzo, and you will not like my response."
Danzo's mouth thinned in displeasure. "You're making a mistake." He said. "You're letting sentiment get in the way of making this village strong."
Hiruzen smiled grimly. "In this past month I've had six children killed for their attempts to murder Naruto and Fuyuko," he said. "My sentiment for our village's youth does not stop me from doing what has to be done. But I know better than to try and force children who are too young into training."
"Very well," Danzo conceded, dipping his head. "But you can't coddle them forever, Hiruzen. They're not children, they're weapons."
"They're both," Hiruzen corrected him. "Which is why they require very careful handling."
The corner of Danzo's mouth ticked up in a slight smile. "As you say, Hokage-sama," he said, and Hiruzen smiled, knowing that Danzo had finally backed down, agreeing with him for now.
"If you are still looking for a project, however," he said, "Kakashi is becoming somewhat of an... inconvenience."
"Are you worried your rabid dog might try to bite the hand holding his leash?" Danzo asked, coolly amused. "Very well, I'll take him off your hands, old friend."
Hiruzen smiled. "Thank you, old friend."
~
Sansa remembered Kurama's words before they had healed her and provided her with their chakra to help her defend Naruto before Inu's timely intervention, so after Kanna and Naruto had both fallen into a fitful sleep she closed her eyes and reached the way Kurama had instructed. It wasn't at all like warging, where she floated away from her body. Instead, it was as if she was falling backward deeper into her own mind, falling and falling until she found herself in the godswood.
"You're here," Kurama rumbled, "good."
"I wished to thank you," Sansa told him, with a deep curtsey, "I owe a debt, Kurama."
Kurama tilted their head. "Careful, little vixen," they warned. "Promises and Debts are serious things, especially to Beings such as I."
"Nevertheless, it is a debt that I owe you." Sansa said firmly and Kurama dipped their head in an acknowledgement that shivered along Sansa's bones, sinking deep into the marrow. She pushed aside her unease to focus on the more pressing issue. "So," she said, "let us work out what the obstacles to freeing you from this prison are. To start, I have no knowledge of sealing. I also have no knowledge of the written language of the Elemental Nations and I have no access to a seal master to apprentice under."
"That is a... very discouraging start ," Kurama said, and she could hear their agitation.
"Yet they are not insurmountable obstacles," Sansa replied calmly. "Time and patience will be our greatest allies in this endeavour."
Kurama snarled, leaping to their feet where they towered over her as they angrily paced from one side of their weirwood cage to the other. It made Sansa's heart ache to see them trapped, and it made her angry to know that it was her who was their jailor, however unwilling she might be.
"I'm sorry," she said quietly. "It isn't fair. But I am committed to this and I will see it through."
Kurama stopped pacing, instead turning back to look at her. They crouched down again and looked at her. "Yes," They said. "You are. And you will." They sighed, a hot gust of Dornish summer wind. "We'll start with the basics then." They lifted a massive claw and gestured to the heart tree, to where the face should be, but the inked seal was instead. "That," They said, "is the seal trapping me inside you."
Sansa frowned as she looked at it. Like last time, looking at the lines and swirls of ink was irritating, like looking at a piece of embroidery with a thread loose, or a laced up a corset that had missed an eyelet.
"You said last time that no true Uzumaki would have created it. You called it 'clumsy'. What did you mean by that?" She asked and Kurama snorted.
"I meant exactly that," They said scornfully. "It's a display brute force where a delicate touch was required. No finesse at all. Mito or Kushina would never have crafted such an insult. Oh, I'm sure the Yondaime was a very impressive killer and talented enough at the flashy battlefield seals, but this type of work requires precision."
"That's excellent, then," Sansa said, remembering the countless hours she'd spent slaving over her embroidery and her letters, until her fingertips bled and calloused and the muscles in her hands ached and cramped, "delicate, precise work is where I excel."
"Of course it is," Kurama said. "You're an Uzumaki. It's in your blood."
Sansa smiled up at him. "Maybe," she agreed. "But I put in the work too. Though not with these hands," she held up her tiny, thin little hands and frowned, flexing them to test their dexterity. "I must work on that."
"Yes," Kurama said, and Sansa wouldn't exactly call herself an expert at reading the facial expressions of a giant fox, but she thought that they looked curious. "You have mentioned before that you are a reborn soul. You must be loved by the gods."
Sansa bowed her head, thinking on Cersei's words as she had once prayed– The gods have no mercy. That's why they're gods. "It is a terrible burden, to be loved by the gods," she said quietly, and Kurama dipped their head.
"One of the many you must carry," They said, but she heard the sympathy there. "Tell me of your life, Sansa Stark who is also Uzumaki Fuyuko."
Sansa smiled sadly. "It is a long story, Kurama."
"I have nothing but time," Kurama said, gesturing around their cage with their tails, "but I understand if you don't wish to speak of it yet. Revisiting such memories can be... painful."
"Yes," Sansa murmured. "It is. But... I would like to tell you. One day."
"I will wait," Kurama promised.
~
The days following Kento's execution were tense. Sansa and Naruto kept close to a pale, quiet Kanna who mostly kept the three of them locked in their small room, even if it meant missing meals. Naruto cried a lot, hungry and unhappy as he always was to be locked in small spaces, but between Kanna and Sansa they tried to keep him occupied.
It took two weeks before life started to return to normal, only without the attempted murder. Most of the children seemed too scared to even breathe in their direction, which Sansa preferred to been terrified of a knife in her back, but Naruto teared up every time one of his old friends ran away from him. Only the very youngest of them were unaffected by Inu's threat due to their young age impacting their ability to actually realise that a threat had been made. It still took Sansa an entire moon's turn before she was satisfied that no one was going to try and hurt her brother and she finally relaxed her careful vigilance and turned her focus onto her other task– learning sealing.
The first step was to begin learning the written language of the Elemental Language. This was difficult as there were multiple written languages, Kanna only had so much time to teach her and most of the other kids at the orphanage were still avoiding her. Sansa found herself constantly frustrated when nobody would help her learn to decipher the brush strokes on paper and the more time that passed without any progress, the more frustrated she felt.
Visiting Lady and her family helped, at least. Tumbling around with the other wolf pups, training to track prey by scent with Tsukiko, curling up in the den in a puppy pile, all while entwined so tightly with Lady that their hearts beat as one... it let Sansa escape the frustration of being unable to help free Kurama and fulfil her oath to him.
"I just don't know what to do," she/Lady admitted to Tsukiko, as Lady/Kita had finally started being able to speak. Tsukiko had refused to let Sansa introduce herself, however, claiming that the 'time was not yet right'. "I know what it's like to live in a cage. Mine were gilded cages, but they still clipped my wings so I couldn't fly and I hated it. At times I just wanted to die, rather than live another day trapped. But I can't do anything."
"Oh my little ones," Tsukiko said, leaning down to nuzzle her/them. "I do not doubt for one moment that you will succeed in whatever it is that you put your mind to. It is clear to any who lay eyes on you that you are meant for great things, little Dream Walker."
"But what if I fail?" Sansa/Lady asked desperately.
"But," Tsukiko countered, "what if you succeed?"
Tsukiko's faith in her helped, but as her and Naruto's second name-day approached, Sansa found she was no closer to finding a solution to her kanji problem. She also found she had another problem– Inu was missing.
It wasn't that she'd ever seen Inu with any degree of regularity, but since they'd been moved to the orphanage his chakra had nearly always hovered in the background, along with the rest of their protectors. Except since shortly after the day he'd executed Kento, Sansa hadn't felt his chakra once. She was finding it more upsetting then she'd expected, considering how little they'd actually interacted.
Tsukiko was the one to notice, during one of her visits to the wolves. The she-wolf was lounging under the velvety night sky, the glow of the full moon turning her pale coat silver and Sansa/Lady were curled up between her two front paws, enjoying the protection they felt there, when the she-wolf spoke. "You seem sad, little ones," she murmured, and Sansa/Lady flopped onto her side, looking up at the much larger wolf.
sansa/sad/lost pack?/hurts
It does hurt, Lady
"I am sad," Sansa admitted.
"Why are you sad, my little dream walker?" Tsukiko asked.
"I think something happened to one of the ANBU I might have... cared about a little," Sansa said reluctantly. "I haven't felt his chakra for a while. I didn't even realise how often he was around until suddenly he wasn't."
"I'm sorry, little one," Tsukiko said softly, nosing her gently. "Shinobi lead short, difficult, and often violent lives. Having them as pack is… painful."
"You sound like you're speaking from experience," Sansa said softly, and Tsukiko made a soft chuffing sound.
"You really have no idea what I am, do you?" she mused. "I am what is known to shinobi as a summons, little one, though we have our own names for ourselves, and this is not the human realm, this is what shinobi call the summons realm. Shinobi sign blood contracts with us so they may call upon our aid in battle to vanquish their enemies. While some summons and their shinobi have a distant relationship that relies on tributes offered in return for aid, others may grow close and form tight bonds. And wolves? We are pack animals."
"When the snow falls and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies but the pack survives," Sansa murmured and Tsukiko nuzzled her.
"Exactly. Pack sticks together. When we make a pact with a summoner, they become part of our pack. And losing one of the pack…"
"It hurts," Sansa whispered, making a soft keening sound.
Gin, Haya, Katsu and Suki all scampered over from where they'd been playing, all whining anxiously and piling on top of her, licking at her muzzle and her ears, nosing and nuzzling her. Sansa closed her eyes and let herself be surrounded by warmth and love and pack, let it drown out the ache in her heart.
Almost as if she could read her thoughts, Tsukiko murmured, "we can never forget those who we have lost, they will always be a part of us and we will carry them within us for the remainder of our years. But we will forge new bonds as the years pass and those new bonds will help ease the burden of the old pain. It is not a betrayal to those we have lost to love again. We are not replacing them and they would want us to live and love, even when they have passed on."
~
The night before their name-day, Sansa and Naruto were curled up in Kanna's arms on their shared mat, their usual sleeping position, when the supposedly locked door suddenly swung opened. Sansa, half-asleep, didn't even have time to be alarmed before she was snatched from Kanna's arms, Naruto's frightened yelp letting her know that he'd experienced a similar fate.
Panicked, Sansa immediately sank her teeth into the offending appendage, causing its owner to hiss as her sharp fangs sank deep into their arm. She gagged and spluttered as blood filled her mouth and had to let go to spit it up as she started to choke. Kanna, meanwhile, had leapt to her feet and started screaming and shouting until finally a third man ran into the room, and this one Sansa recognised– not by his face, she couldn't see his face, but by the feel of his chakra. It was Tora.
"What the fu– what the heck?" Tora demanded furiously. "What did you two idiots do?"
"Taicho!" The man in the frog mask holding Naruto, whose neck Sansa was pleased to see had been clawed bloody with wounds that would need sewing shut from Naruto's little claws, hastened to answer Tora. "The mission parameters stated a retrieval mission of two assets!"
"We're picking them up for transport, we're not kidnapping them!" Tora exclaimed, exasperated. Impatient and feeling sick from the blood in her mouth and dripping down her chin, Sansa whined and reached out for Tora. The man holding her gladly passed her over when Tora automatically held out his arms to accept her. "Still a terrifyingly protective little creature, I see," he said fondly. Sansa gave him a mournful look as she wiped her hand over her face.
"Tastes yucky," she said, careful to keep her words at a low enough level of maturity.
"I imagine it does," Tora said, shooting another glare over at the man in the hare mask who had grabbed her. Sansa looked coldly back at him as well, holding herself as regally as an almost two-year-old with their mouth and chin splattered in blood could. Sansa wasn't sure if her lady-mother would be more proud or horrified. Kanna was also glaring fiercely at both men, the sniffling Naruto back in her arms as she bounced him softly, trying to soothe him.
"What d'ya need th' pups for, anyways?" she demanded.
"That's none of your business," hare-mask said hotly, one hand clamped over his bleeding arm.
"We're taking them somewhere secure for tomorrow," Tora answered her, ignoring hare-mask. "I'm sure you remember how last year things at the Kyuubi Festival got... out of hand." By the way Kanna winced, Sansa had the feeling that Tora was understating things. "We don't want a repeat of that where the twins are out somewhere exposed and vulnerable," he explained.
Kanna nodded. "Makes sense," she agreed, "yer takin' me with ya."
"Who do you think you are?" demanded frog-mask.
"Not th' one who got beat up by a fuckin' baby, fer one," Kanna scoffed, with a flip of her long green hair, "also, th' one who can get th' kids ter stop cryin', 'n feed 'em 'n shit. 'Less you got some'un lined up fer that?"
"No–" hare-mask started to say, but Tora interrupted again.
"I think it's a good idea," he said. "She's right, the twins shouldn't be left by themselves and they'll react better in a new environment staying with her then with a stranger. Grab whatever you need," he told Kanna, who scrambled to her feet, not even bothering with modesty as she stripped out of her sleep singlet and pulled on a ratty t-shirt and skirt and a pair of beat up sandals before grabbing a change of clothes for Sansa and Naruto, along with the kanji book she and Sansa had been going through to help Sansa learn. Tora took the time to use the sleeve of his shirt and water from a canteen to wipe Sansa's mouth clean, much to her relief.
"A'right, 'm ready," Kanna announced, expertly wrangling her long hair into a plait one-handed while holding the book and clothes under the other. Sansa thought that the ANBU actually looked impressed. She almost felt like pointing out that when someone was responsible for caring for young children, they had to relearn how to perform most everyday tasks one-handed.
The ANBU looked between the three of them before, hands moving in signs that appeared to be a form of silent communication that Sansa watched in interest. Finally, hare-mask sighed and turned to Kanna. "You're with me," he said reluctantly. "I need you to jump on me."
"Well, yer more of an asshole then wot I usually go for," Kanna said, sweeping her eyes up and down him, "but I might jump ya, if ya ask me real nice."
"I meant, jump on my back!" Hare-mask hissed. "So I can carry you!"
"Then why didn' ya jus' say so?" Kanna asked, aggrieved, rolling her eyes. Sansa caught her wink though, when the ANBU turned his back so she could climb on. So did Tora, if his silent laughter was anything to go by. Kanna handed Naruto over to Tora, apparently not trusting frog-mask with him, not after how the first time had gone, before easily scaling up onto the ANBU's back.
Sansa kept her face buried in Tora's vest the entire journey, not lifting it until they'd arrived. By comparison, Naruto giggled and shrieked with laughter the entire time they sped across the rooftops, clapping his hands delightedly. When they arrived, Sansa was both surprised and not surprised to realise they'd been brought to the Hokage Tower. Instead of being shown to the Hokage, however, the three of them were hurried to a small room furnished with several mats, blankets, toys, books and food.
"The moment the door closes, it can't be opened again for twenty-four hours outside of an emergency," Tora explained to Kanna, who nodded.
"'Kay," she said, her legs only slightly wobbly as she climbed down from hare-mask's back and accepted Sansa and Naruto from Tora. "I'll take good care of 'em, yeah? Promise."
"I know you will," Tora said, and even though she couldn't see his face, Sansa could hear his smile. "I trust you."
Sansa watched the three ANBU leave and door close behind them only for the back of the door to light up as lines of soft gold lit up, spiralling out in lines and swirls. Seals, she realised, automatically leaning forwards and tracing them with her eyes. It didn't itch like the one on the heart-tree did, but she still felt like it was... off. Like a lute hitting the wrong note during a song.
"Fancy," Kanna commented, before placing them on the ground before heading straight to the food. "Look," she said excitedly, "they got inari!"
"Wa's 'nari?" Naruto asked curiously, toddling over to her.
"What is inari," Sansa corrected him, following them both.
"'S a rice ball in a tofu pouch," Kanna explained. "My mama used ta make 'em as offerings ta Inari-sama."
"Who's Inari-sama?" Sansa asked, curious. She knew the honorific 'sama' was used to denote someone of great importance– so far, she'd only heard it used in conjunction with the Hokage and Clan Heads.
"Inari-sama is a god," Kanna explained, "see, 'e's mostly worshipped by merchants 'n tradesman, but 'e's also associated wiv brothels 'n entertainers. My mama, she worked in th' Red Light District, yeah? So she prayed to Inari-sama an' we would make inari together ta leave at 'is shrine."
Kanna sighed, looking down at the inari in her hand. "Tried goin' there after me 'n Kento buried 'er," she said quietly, Sansa and Naruto both silent as they listened to her speak. "But when I got ta th' shrine, I saw it was trashed. People 'ad just... come 'n destroyed it, smashed all th' statues 'n shit."
"Why?" Sansa asked, horrified at such wickedness and sacrilege. She was shocked that Inari-sama hadn't struck the blasphemers down where they stood.
"'Cause," Kanna said softly, still looking down, "Inari-sama's also a god of foxes."
And Sansa had an idea.
Notes:
A/N: I found a lot of conflicting information about Inari the god, so I decided to mainly use the information from Britannica.com, not because I felt it was the most accurate (I have no idea if it is) but because it meshed best with the direction I want the story to go. Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Poor Sansa is not enjoying the struggles of being young and unable to do much of anything.