(The night prior)
Sometimes, Aiko was a really frustrating person, Obito ruminated.
"I mean, I did literally say that I didn't come to fight." He crossed his arms, feeling a scowl coming on. "I was friendly. I said hi."
The jinchuuriki that she'd brought with her rippled, open-mouthed screaming at the three-tails. He was quickly losing form, skin bubbling out into oozing red sores that popped into soft, demonic flesh.
And honestly, it was insulting that Aiko would trust him before Obito. That stupid kid had lost it when confronted with another jinchuuriki. He'd struck at Aiko. What kind of ally was that?
He considered that for a moment. Then he peered over the roof a bit nervously, just to make sure Aiko wasn't standing behind him or anything.
Well. Okay. Maybe there was a reason or two that Aiko could be a bit grumpy with him still, even if they really should just call it even at this point. Yeah, yeah, he wasn't perfect but- but he'd never stuck his fingers in someone else's eyes. Petty. She was so petty.
'Is she still pissed about her eyes?'
Obito squirmed guiltily. He, uh. Was beginning to suspect that he wasn't going to find Zetsu had stored them away somewhere. So he probably couldn't manage an apology bouquet complete with her original body parts- his best idea so far. That was about as far as he'd gotten with unpacking that bothersome business.
Fine! He admitted it, that had been kinda rude on his part. He was sorry. With some time and distance and a little bit of medication and a lot of counseling, yes. He recognized that had been not okay. He was really sorry. But…
'I want my friend back.'
Judging by the way all the color had bled out of her face when she'd seen him, maybe waiting around for her to show up hadn't been the best idea. He'd been confused, okay? Disoriented. Out of sorts. He'd been pretending not to sense Bakashi waiting uncomfortably outside the clinic room on one of his super uncomfortable late night 'Is Obito really here?' panic runs. And then he'd been standing? In Mist? The air on his face was damp and he could smell heavy salt. All he'd heard had been sharp breath and felt chakra swelling and then Aiko'd spoken up-
'She's so rude,' Obito remembered fondly.
She'd had the audacity to be indignant that reality hadn't done what she'd told it to. This was definitely her fault, there was no doubt in his mind. He'd paused, torn between the urge to hide and the desire to follow after the most familiar person in this madhouse.
He could have followed the inevitable clattering cacophony and outrage that followed Aiko wherever she went. Probably.
But he'd felt his own chakra. He'd sensed himself. It was the creepiest, most fucked-up feeling he'd ever encountered, and he never wanted to experience it again.
It wasn't a dream. Not a memory. Not a hallucination. He was feeling his own chakra, twisted and angry in ways that he didn't remember. He'd felt like that? He'd been in that place?
How much damage had he caused? He was like a rabid animal. He'd hurt so many people, and killed sensei and poor Kushina-san and so many people, just for nothing, for nothing because the perfect world was never going to happen and-
Obito hated the man that he was. He hated the man that he'd been more.
It was a stupid idea. He'd been on forced inactivity for two years. Only in the last months had he been allowed to do more than mindless physical drills, only four months back his chakra had been unsealed as a concession to good behavior and noted improvement from that frightening psychiatrist woman.
But. You know. No one really expected that their older self would step up behind them using a jutsu that no one else had ever used and-
It just wasn't a thing anyone planned for. What lunatic would anticipate being attacked by themself?
Hmm.
Obito frowned. He made a mental note to come up with a plan to counter his own techniques. Like, soon. Sure, getting dragged back to his own past had only happened to him once, but that was still a significant statistical increase over the likelihood he would have assigned the possibility before.
'Fall into my past once, shame on Aiko. Do it again…'
Still probably Aiko's fault, actually. Now that he thought about it, it was really only surprising that this had only happened to her one time. Sure, she seemed to have some kind of intuitive knack for interdimensional fuinjutu, but, that didn't really inspire confidence in her tendency to improvise.
'I should get her in some kind of tutoring. Is there an after school program like that?'
Speaking of Aiko, what was she- Obito squinted the one eye that he had, blithely looking past the hell that the two bijuu were unleashing on each other. Twits. He'd just wanted Yagura to keep the chumps Aiko'd brought out of the way so that they could talk. It was embarrassing how things had escalated, really.
Oh. He squeezed his eye shut, chewing over this development. That was her plan, huh? What a weird kid. It was just Mist. And it'd been an accident anyway, they could sort it out. Was Aiko really trying to take control of the situation? Why would-
salt brine roiled out of Rin's open mouth, spilling down her chin to mix with foamy flecks of her own blood and small glistening lumps of something he couldn't identify. Her shoulder blades felt so small in his hands, her body cold from the sea and-
Obito shuddered the memory away. He swallowed. He breathed in deeply, remembering where he was. He was now. That was then. Back. Ago. Unchangeable. Aiko wasn't Rin and the three-tails wasn't cursed and Bakashi wasn't even here right now for things to be his fault.
He fisted a handful of his hair and dug in sharp, jolting breaths through his nose.
He couldn't do this right now. He couldn't talk to her now. She was busy, he'd come back later, he'd try again a little differently and she'd take a minute to listen to him and she'd realize that he was right, that he needed her to work with him right now. She'd understand. There was so much to do. There was so much set in motion that she'd hate too.
After all, she was here, wasn't she? Not in Konoha. It made sense. Aiko had family, friends. It would be significantly harder to replace yourself if anyone was around to know or care. Aiko had to have realized that things were better off if she stayed out of Konoha, away from her little self.
It would have been helpful if she hadn't exposed herself to Akatsuki as an enemy. There went his five best plans about how to get rid of them. But…
'We'll figure something out.'
~~~
Present
She looked out into the dimly lit coast town and realized that coming there was a mistake. An extra stop to equip herself just wasn't worth it.
Aiko looked down at her bare feet. She felt naked, exposed, unarmored. She was in her underwear, with dried ink crackling over her stomach and hipbones.
'It doesn't matter right now. For all I know, Utakata's dead. I know a lot of people died. I need to know what happened.'
She swallowed. She went to wrap her arms around her chest and then thought better of it, pushing her shoulders back. Aiko took a steadying breath that quietened most of the trembling. And she went.
Her geography had never been the most accurate, unfortunately. Without the seal on the Mizukage to use as a precise guide, she found herself on a remote stretch of Mizugakure's outlying islands overlooking a rocky beach. She blinked at the patched, dingy boat tied up at a log. She tried again. This time, she found herself on the incline of an impact crater, less than a foot away from a mangled, stinking pile impacted into the ground that had probably been a person before a bijuu had stepped on them. It was hard to tell more than that in the dim light afforded by a half moon.
Aiko didn't let herself look away too soon. She looked until she thought she could remember the way it looked, the spill of blood and crushed flesh and the splintered rib bone curving in a ghastly, eyeless smile on the canvas of the dirt.
'I did this. I saw Mist after Mei's takeover, and this hadn't happened. If I hadn't been so cocky, this person would be alive.'
She was hailed down before she reached the top of the crater, by a hard-eyed man with hollowed cheeks and a broad jawline. He reached down to help her out. It wasn't necessary, but she took his hand and let him haul her to the lip of the hole.
He let go as soon as she was on her feet, freeing his hands to unwind a length of bandage from his arm. He tossed it to her, politely looking no lower than her jaw. "Have you checked in yet?"
She took the bandage and used it as a hasty chest wrap, because it was a nice offer even if modesty was low on her priorities. When she was done tying the end, Aiko pressed her lips together and shook her head. It took a second try to speak over the dryness in her mouth. "What happened to Utakata?"
Now, he looked at her critically, gaze traveling up and down to check her lack of gear and state of general disarray. "You're looking for the jinchuuriki."
She honestly did not know what that lack of inflection signified. So she nodded.
They stood for a moment before he seemed to make a decision, jaw working silently. "I'll take you there." He lead her to an intact building, but stopped at the lobby. "I need to continue to look for survivors. You'll have to take it from here."
Aiko nodded. It felt like she'd been doing that a lot. Belatedly, she realized she hadn't gotten her guide's name. She cleared her throat. "Thank you…"
He gave a perfunctory nod that was not quite a bow. "Noguchi Hiro."
"Noguchi-san," Aiko repeated, holding the name in her memory. "Uzumaki Aiko. Good luck."
In she went. The power was out, but the main hallway was marked with a trail of far-flung candles, not enough for any reading, but adequate for marking a path. Before too long, she heard voices.
Familiar voices.
Her hand actually shook as she slid aside the door. Utakata looked exhausted, hair unusually lank and dark circles ringing his eyes. The moonlight coming in the window revealed that Mei didn't look much better. Her left arm was bleeding through a sling.
Relief hit Aiko. It felt more like being doused in cold water than muscles relaxing, but she felt her limbs tremble and sink as the adrenaline cut off.
"Aiko." Utakata stood, eyes wide.
Her head hurt like she might cry. She blinked instead, forcing it down. "Utakata." Thank god.
Mei might have looked sullen if she were less exhausted. "Uzumaki, is it? Sit down. I don't have the stomach for watching you make eyes at each other right now." She gestured at a cushion with her injured elbow without even wincing.
Aiko sat seiza, folding her numb legs under her body.
Utakata looked down at her, and then glanced away quickly. His jaw twitched. Then he reached for the fabric sash fastening his under-robe shut.
"Don't bother." Aiko waved him off. She managed a smile. Or, at least, she pulled up the sides of her mouth. "You can't trust me with your clothes. I don't know what happened to the robe I borrowed earlier. You'll end up naked if you keep that up."
Mei huffed. She gave Aiko a very deliberate once-over. "I suppose you might be the expert on that."
Just maybe.
Aiko swallowed again and tried to summon some moisture in her mouth. It was so dry that her tongue hurt. She wondered how long she'd been laying in Suna's deserts before a patrol had picked her up. "I saw that people are searching. Are you two taking a break?"
No one answered for a moment. Then Utakata lifted one shoulder elegantly, trying to summon up the nonchalance that usually seemed so natural to him. "Terumi-san has recently completed a shift moving rubble. She has kindly decided to spend her break time keeping me company, for the continued comfort of concerned citizens."
Tired as she was, it took way too long for Aiko to parse that. "Mei-san has chakra exhaustion and you're basically under arrest?" she summarized bluntly.
Utakata gave her a half-hearted dirty look, but deigned to nod along with Mei. He finally sank to a seat again.
"Right." Aiko rubbed her palms against her thighs. "Who's… who's in charge?" She glanced between them. "The Mizukage is definitely dead, right?"
Stupid question. Of course he was. She had his bijuu.
"Yagura is dead," Mei confirmed flatly. "What did you do with the Sanbi?"
Aiko lifted a hand and touched her fingers to the seal on her gut.
The older kunoichi's expression tightened. "Of course."
When she didn't say anything, Utakata cleared his throat. "As for the matter of leadership… That has yet to be resolved." He exchanged a meaningful glance with Mei. "There is a noticeable dearth of suitable candidates."
But… the answer was so obvious.
Aiko tucked her fingers under her knees. "I see two S-class Mist nin right now. One of you should do it." She looked right at Mei as she said that to drive her point home. "I thought that you wanted it."
Mei gave her a look of pure hatred that shook Aiko back a little. "I am widely opined to have failed in my capacity as the captain of the hunter-nin division. I'm afraid that I lost the public's trust in my capability to protect my own. No one would support my ascension to more responsibility after a catastrophic failure such as being the only survivor of four teams."
'Oh. Right. How many people did Utakata and I kill that day?'
She didn't even remember. If Aiko had to put a number on it, she's say it was definitely more elite operatives than you could lose without accusations being pointed at the leadership involved.
"Politically, her career is over." Utakata philosophically ignored the look Mei turned on him. "However, I must also remind you that losing control of my bijuu and transforming in the village center inspired no confidence in my abilities. If the new Mizukage does not simply prefer to execute me, I will face court-martial."
Aiko blinked and responded without thinking. "Or you could run away."
There was an ugly silence. Utakata was tired and far older than he had any right to. Mei gritted her teeth, looking at Aiko with utter revulsion.
'That… I can't believe that was my first thought. That it was okay to run from the consequences. I fucked up just like he did and caused so much harm, even if it wasn't me who killed anyone. I'm not… I'm not the kind of person who runs away from that. I'm not.'
She swallowed. "Sorry."
Utakata inclined his head, accepting the apology with some grace. "Your return presents… a possibility."
Wait, what?
Mei picked up where he had left. "No one knows what happened, but you were seen." Her lips were pale. "There has been talk of identifying the person who sealed the three-tailed bijuu, which is what I can only assume to have happened when it suddenly disappeared from the field of battle." She eyed the ink on Aiko's skin. "And now you have the bijuu. You are unknown, but that power is as respected as it is feared. The people would accept you."
What. Aiko stared, mouth slightly open.
Mei gave a small sound of disgust and turned away.
Aiko startled back to her senses enough to point out- "I'm not a mist-nin." That was kind of important.
"It is easier to believe that an unknown from the hunter squads is being put forward as a candidate than an outsider." Utakata's smile twisted wryly. "The idea is self-evidently mad. Terumi-san can corroborate the story."
"Besides, who capable of contesting that cover would be stupid enough to say anything?" Mei added. She huffed. "No one wants to be the village without a jinchuuriki. Now that one has returned, it would be pure foolishness to drive away the other. Giving you a position binds the ostensibly stable jinchuuriki to the village."
Her head was spinning. It was too much. This wasn't her home, this wasn't her village. She had to get back into Konoha- she was working on a plan to get offered an invitation.
"There has to be someone else." Aiko's voice sounded strange. She didn't quite feel like it belonged to her. "Mizugakure has powerful shinobi."
"Dead or traitors," Mei rejected. "The seven swordsmen are scattered. One apprentice remains, but he is not the caliber of shinobi that we need. Perhaps a strong candidate might return, but it would be unwise to wait and hope for the best."
Mei was right. But no, no, no, she wasn't ready to give up yet.
"This situation is in addition to the risks inherent in a regime change." Utakata sounded less confident than Mei did- this was theoretical knowledge for him.
He didn't remember a change of Mizukage, did he? Mei would remember before Yagura's reign. Aiko remembered the Godaime Hokage's installation and the problems it had presented, both domestic and international.
People would think Mist was weak. They would see a target.
'And they're right. Mist is weak, and lacking a strong kage makes the problem much worse.'
Mei's eyes bored into Aiko, dark and unforgiving. "If a candidate is not put forward, unrest will develop. We cannot afford to be internally divided." Her hands curled into fists on her lap. "You have caused this. You must fix it."
Utakata gave Mei a sidelong look, but he didn't disagree. He didn't disagree because Mei was correct, and it would be stupid to deny it.
She'd done this to them. She'd set off the chain of events that unleashed two bijuu on a city center. She'd ruined Mei's career and prevented her from being the savior Mist's people needed. She'd led Utakata into a situation he didn't want, and he was going to face the consequences.
'It's not even the first time that I accidentally set bijuu on someone else's country. I never even apologized for that, much less faced the consequences. I just… I just moved on with my life, tried to re-integrate into Konoha. Is that the person that I am?'
The guilt sat in her stomach like she'd eaten rocks.
'I'll never be able to go home to Konoha. They'll never trust me. They shouldn't.'
Aiko felt like crying. She closed her eyes, but this time she let it seep through her lashes. "I'll do it."
"Finally." Mei stood, steadying herself with her good hand when she swayed on her feet. The kunoichi gritted her teeth and exhaled slowly. She was clearly forcing down pain. She had other injuries. Broken ribs? After a moment, Mei continued as though she'd never stopped. "We'll have to find you some clothes. I'll see what I can do about gathering upper level shinobi to swear you in and witness. The rest will fall in line, once everything has been passed around and you've been see. Where you would like-"
"I don't need to get cleaned up." Aiko stood too. "Where are the bodies being brought? That's where we'll meet."
"What?" Mei gave her an odd look, but Utakata was shaking his head.
"Absolutely not!" He rocketed to his feet, white teeth bared. "Have you forgotten last time?"
No. But. They shouldn't be dead. It didn't matter what had happened last time, because this wasn't a whim. She had to do it. Aiko couldn't quite manage to find the energy to explain why this was important, so she just looked at him.
Utakata faltered. A muscle twitched in his neck. Then he looked away.
That was answer enough. Aiko swallowed. "I'll need something to drink before I go. And I'll need a few minutes to contact- to try to contact the Sanbi."
On her own, she didn't know how far her chakra would get her. Mist's dead were a lot fresher than Zabuza had been, or anyone else she'd raised. Hopefully she could do it. But borrowing chakra could only help.
"Uzumaki?" Mei sounded cautious. "What are you planning?"
"You're right. This is my responsibility." Her feet felt like lead, but she kept moving towards the next candle in the darkness. "I owe Mizugakure my service. I prefer to make my case through action."
Unnatural, sick and wrong action that she hated, but she owed them. She did. She'd do it for them. She reached deep down, clutching at the chakra shielding her gut. She knew this seal. Jiraiya had explained his reasoning to her and forced her to practice it until she understood the consequences as well as he did. Once she contacted the Sanbi, the connection would go two ways. She would hear its voice.
The thought gave her a shiver, a cold rush up her spine. She remembered encountering it when she'd sealed it into that Mist chuunin. Or was he a genin? She didn't even remember his name, anymore. It had been a long time ago.
But she remembered how it had felt to brush up against that alien intelligence. She remembered desperation and fear so potent that it might have been hers, all sunk to mingle in a pool of bleak, hopeless despair. She'd be opening herself up to that. Permanently. She wouldn't be able to get away.
'Sanbi-san? I need to talk to you.'
The world dropped out. She had no feet to catch her, no hands to steady herself with or channel chakra to escape. It was just her and the turtle demon.
It was crying out of the one visible eye, but there was no sadness otherwise visible. Its beak was sullenly impassive, a hard line.
She realized that impression was stupid a moment later. A turtle's face didn't move like a human's did. That didn't mean there was no sign of misery on the Sanbi's face. It just meant that she couldn't interpret it.
"Jailor."
Aiko winced. "I'm sorry." It was inadequate, but it was all that she had. "I didn't mean to."
"You didn't mean to come prepared with a seal, tip me on my back, and eat me?"
It did sound like a flimsy defense when it was summed up that way.
"I couldn't let you hurt anyone else." She swallowed. Her mouth was dry even here. That was unfair, she didn't even have a mouth. "I hadn't planned to have to seal you. I didn't realize that the Mizuage-" Aiko paused. "I don't even know what happened, actually. Why you took over his body. I didn't know that could happen that way."
The Sanbi lashed its tails against the ground. "His," it corrected peevishly. "His tail."
Wait, what?
"The shared perception goes both ways. Stop referring to me like I'm a tree."
Oh. Right. That was fair. Aiko nodded. "Sorry. Sanbi-san. Is that okay to say?"
"It's terrible. But for now, it will do." He turned away, claws digging into the blackness around them.
Aiko shuddered, feeling the movement like a gouge actually inside her gut. Wait. How was that- was that normal? It- he, he could hurt her from inside her?
"Why are you here?"
Right. Focus. "I need to use some of your chakra."
The Sanbi eyed her suspiciously. "How much?"
She had to admit she wasn't sure. "I'm… I'm going to try to revive everyone who you and my friend killed last night. If not, as many as I can."
He gave her a long look. "Humans can't do that."
Aiko thought of turning her Rinnegan on to show him- but that didn't make sense. She wasn't in her body, she was in her body. She couldn't show him right now.
"Rinnegan?" Sanbi asked sharply.
Oh, right. He heard her thoughts, didn't he.
"Where did you get-" He sucked in a breath and paused, interpreting the information that her mind pulled up without trying. Obito, Pein, betrayal and releasing three bijuu and being rescued by Naruto and Kakashi- "I know that human."
What? Which-
"Two." The Sanbi settled down, tucking his legs underneath his shell like a comfortable cat might sit on his paws. "The Uchiha. He came for me. He changed me, and he changed my jailor. I also know the pale human."
That didn't really-
"The one with the lightning hand," Sanbi elaborated impatiently. It seemed displeased with how slow she was- agh, she'd did it again, he, he, he, not it. "That one- Kakashi? Kakashi killed one of my previous jailors." His tails lashed again, but this time it seemed more thoughtful than angry. "She was perhaps a host and not a jailor," Sanbi amended. "She was… not willing."
There was something ugly and familiar about that scenario. A female jinchuuriki that Kakashi had killed. It seemed plausible enough- but the detail that she was an unwilling host let the hairs up on Aiko's neck. That didn't sound like a mist-nin.
"I believe Kakashi was a nestmate." Sanbi seemed to be working hard to remember. "It has been a very long time, and our partnership was brief. I, too, was not at my best. That was another…" He started again. "The seal was particularly provocative on that occasion."
"Nestmate?" Aiko felt a headache coming on. That sounded like a sibling, but Kakashi hadn't had any siblings. She was pretty sure. Who else would be close enough that-
Oh.
'It's a good thing I gave up on Konoha. It'll be a miracle if he can stand to look at me now.'
"That's rude!"
Aiko waved that off. "It's not you. Not really. He blames himself for killing her."
The Sanbi was quiet for a moment, as if he was considering the extenuating circumstances and ramifications. "He did kill her." He sounded mildly bemused that this could be debated.
Well. Fair enough, she supposed. In the literal sense.
What other sense is there?
"I'm not sure, exactly," Aiko replied before realizing that she hadn't heard the question aloud. She froze. Then- no. No, she wasn't going to worry about it. The rules didn't apply here.
"You may not be the most foolish human I have encountered." Sanbi sighed. "Do as you will. I cannot stop you from taking my chakra. You must know this."
"I know." Aiko rubbed at her eye. Wait- was that her real body she was moving? She stopped, because the sensation was too confusing. "I won't do that to you. It's wrong. I'm sorry for what I did to you. I couldn't think of another solution, but that doesn't make it right."
She thought the Sanbi might have been touched. He seemed to waver for a moment. When he spoke, he sounded a little teary. "I… appreciate that." He cleared his throat. "In that case… No. No, you may not use my chakra."
But she needed it!
Aiko physically bit her tongue to keep from protesting like a child. Couldn't he see it was urgent? Lives were at stake. She owed Mizugakure to do as much as she could.
'Operative word there being 'me'. I owe them. Sanbi doesn't owe them or me.'
It took a long moment to master herself.
'It's not his fault that I got them killed. It's not his fault that Obito and Yagura used him like that. I can't- I can't abuse him to fix my mistakes. I am- I have to be better than that.'
Slowly, shakily, she nodded. "Right. I need to go."
And she was back in her body, slumped against the wall with blood dribbling out her mouth from the bite in her tongue. Utakata was kneeling over her, checking at her pulse.
Wearily, she pushed him away. "I'm fine."
When the words came out garbled and wet, Aiko paused. She swallowed blood, hot and metallic. It slid unhappily down her throat, but her voice sounded better when she tried again.
"How long was I out?"
Utakata ignored her protests and helped her stand, only letting go reluctantly. "Minutes. Terumi-san has gone ahead to make preparations." He swallowed visibly, looking away. "Did you- I assume that you made contact?"
Made contact. Yeah. Aiko nodded, before she remembered he wasn't looking. "We had a talk."
He made a small, relieved sound. "Ah. It is good to know."
Aiko glanced at his face in profile. She decided she didn't have the heart to tell him. He'd only worry.