Chapter Text
“You get any sleep?” Sakura asks her when they meet in front of the academy.
“A little,” Mitsuki replies around a large yawn.
She had remembered, belatedly, she should check the seals she had put up to track Orochimaru. So she had spent about five hours in sage mode to check all of the seals she is connected to that she and Kakashi placed all around Konoha earlier in the week. Kakashi had found her this morning trying to make breakfast with her eyes closed. He had booted her out of the kitchen, telling her to try and sleep a little bit more, and he’d handle the food.
“Were you working on seals for us or something?” Sasuke hands her an onigiri, which she accepts with a quiet thanks.
The word seals makes her think of why she had placed hundreds upon hundreds of small seals all around the village.
***
After the genin sensei had announced the Rookie Nine would be nominated for the exams, Kakashi and Mitsuki had sought out the older Ino-Shika-Cho to see what they had planned for the chunin exams attack.
Shikaku had planned out, after grilling Mitsuki on her sealing knowledge, for the first part of the plan to have various seals track Orochimaru. The goal is to capture a sample of the Sannin’s chakra the moment he enters Konoha. From there the seals she placed, that Shikaku called ‘checkpoints,’ would clock the Orochimaru’s chakra every time he passes over the seals, either by physical movement or shunshin. The Nara’s overall goal is to make sure Mitsuki can keep track of the Snake Sannin to ensure she can keep him away from Sasuke.
This meant Mitsuki had also gone around the entirety of training grounds forty-four with Kakashi setting up various seals to slow down Orochimaru while tracking the man. They had made a game of who could dodge the most beasts while placing her seals down on trees and stones. The loser had to pay for a week of dinner.
She lost much to Kakashi’s smug satisfaction and she had even used her dad’s Hiraishin.
“I still don’t like that I can’t follow you in the forest,” he had pouted over their dinner.
“Shikaku raised good points, besides, this is another area I have down to a science,” she replied as she ate. “There will be four possible variables that could happen, but if I can get to Orochimaru first, then we’ll get the best result.”
He had stared at her. “How bad have the loops been in the forest?”
Mitsuki swallowed. One could argue the first two loops she experienced were fairly traumatizing. The third loop, however, broke herself and Sasuke for various reasons—far too numerous to count. Kurama had thankfully left her alone during the early looping. He had been confused and angry over what was happening, but he had realized later in the teen loops that she had started to become angry at everything and he took advantage of it for a few loops.
“Mitsuki?” Kakashi asked her softly, cupping her cheek. “You’re getting stuck in your head a lot more of late.”
“It happens, when I’m tired and a big constant, or key event, is approaching,” she replied weakly. She felt nauseous. “There’s a lot of emotions tied to them, where I learned important things, where terrible things happened. Even though it has been a while since something new has surprised me, I can’t help but think of the times that left a lasting impact.”
“Sorry, I shouldn’t have asked,” he whispered as he pulled her into a hug.
“I’d say it’s fine, but you’d pinch me,” she joked while returning his embrace. “Just, um, could I put my mattress in your room tonight? I might sleep better.”
“Of course, I’ll even summon the pack for you.”
***
Kakashi’s ninken have been great for her, Mitsuki thinks as she peels off the wrapping of her onigiri. He brought them all out for the majority of the week for her. She has gotten used to falling asleep with them and waking up with them. Kurama is a little jealous about the situation as she has to go find the scroll to summon foxes.
This week has been exhausting for her, but she knows where Orochimaru is, and she has kept those involved updated as best she can. Kakashi will suffer the most emotionally as he has to just sit tight and wait for the most part for the first two parts of the exam.
“Got a few tricks for us up my sleeves,” she answers finally when Sakura jabs her in the side, and then she takes a giant bite of her onigiri.
“Well, if it’s the exam I’m thinking of for part one you can just sleep,” Sakura tells her as they walk inside. She glances at the growing crowd of genin and she smiles. “Wanna go say hi to Iruka-sensei? I bet the others thought to go see him too.”
Iruka-sensei is one of their code phrases all of the Rookie Nine agreed upon after everyone had come back from doing their own research. Sakura, Shikamaru, and Shino all put their heads together and they had determined there are layers with each exam. Mini-exams within the main three exams was how Shikamaru had described it. Mitsuki had made the same noises of surprise and understanding as her friends, but she had been pleased to see how they had all worked together to fill in a lot of gaps about the chunin exams.
“Sounds good,” Sasuke mutters, dragging Mitsuki by her sleeve after she doesn’t move with them.
“I can walk.” Mitsuki smiles at her teammates who both scoff at the same time.
“Sure, sure,” Sakura says placatingly as they traipse up the stairs. As they reach the next floor she pauses. “Sasuke, on your right.”
Sasuke grunts, dropping his hold on Mitsuki, to block an incoming kick from Rock Lee. Then, to Mitsuki’s private amusem*nt, Sasuke boots the older genin across the room with a kick and she feels the shock ripple through Tenten and Neji from where they are hidden. They must not have anticipated that Sasuke would respond.
Lee skids to a halt and he sends a blinding grin towards them. Mitsuki sighs to herself because she wonders if this constant will play out as it usually does.
***
In her third loop, Mitsuki experienced the first time she truly hated the Sandaime. It also marked the beginning of her viewing every past and current interaction people had with her under a lens.
Her team had a run in with Gai’s team, and Mitsuki only took notice of Rock Lee who had boldly challenged Sasuke to a match—in hindsight a bit irresponsible to do right before the exams. She had been impressed by his taijutsu and how he could keep up with Sasuke, the famed taijutsu prodigy of her class. But then she learned he couldn’t use any jutsu, not his fault he had been born unable to mold chakra, and the Sandaime had made an exception for Lee to graduate and become a genin.
She understood the purpose of the physical exam that covered jutsu, to make sure students were capable of becoming actual shinobi. What she couldn’t understand was why Lee got an exception and she didn’t when she could make two of the three tested jutsu. At the time anger and jealousy had coursed through her all while she had forced herself to smile cheerfully and rib Sasuke for losing. Thoughts had rattled around in her and she wondered why she, the village jinchuuriki, didn’t get an exception all because she couldn’t make a simple bunshin. In her third loop, the Sandaime had impressed upon her the importance of her role as the holder of the Kyuubi. So surely she should have gotten a pass, right?
Many loops later, and with what she knows now, Mitsuki still cannot figure out why she didn’t get an exception. The Sandaime knew her mother, he had known Uzushio and Uzumaki shinobi, so he had to have known she could not do a simple bunshin regardless if she had been the jinchuuriki or not because of how much chakra Uzumaki were known to have. In the early stages of her looping, the familial love that she used to hold for the man continued to crumble and shatter with each knew thing she learned about what had been hidden from her.
***
“I’m not fighting you right before our exams, idiot,” Sasuke snarks to Lee as Tenten and Neji drop down by their teammate.
“Seriously, you are our senpai, you should know better,” Sakura tacks on with her arm around Sasuke’s neck and her other looped around Mitsuki’s neck, and she blinks wondering when that happened.
“You’re getting to stuck in your head again, kit, which happens when you don’t get enough sleep before these big events,” Kurama scolds her softly. She winces because he’s right. “Your wolf is gonna nag you when he sees you.”
“He won’t,” Mitsuki grouses to him. “You missed him doing that this morning when he realized what I did last night instead of sleeping.”
“Thank kami someone can corral your stubborn ass,” Kurama muses before settling down. “Look alive or your teammates will have to carry you to the exam room.”
Mitsuki blinks and she tunes back in to watch Sakura politely, but firmly, turn down Lee.
“I’m focusing on myself right now, besides, I’m twelve,” Sakura deadpans and she grimaces a second later. Based on the way she had flinched into Mitsuki’s side Sasuke had pinched her. “But thank you for your kind words, Lee.”
Despite the mountain of trauma he’s still working on, Sasuke has become a stickler about manners and being polite. Mitsuki hasn’t figured out his rules for when manners apply as his rules seemed to be flexible and conditional.
“Right nice to meet you or whatever, we’ll see you later, probably,” Sasuke says in a fast, clipped away as he turns back to the stairs.
He hates speaking with people who are not part of Team Seven, and he barely tolerates talking with the other two Rookie Nine teams, so Mitsuki is proud of him for using actual sentences. She’ll tell Kakashi later to get Sasuke a reward for not just throwing a fire ball at Gai’s team. Their method of rewarding his good behavior with jutsu and tomato dishes has been a great boon.
“You must really be out of it to not notice them,” Sakura tells her as they drag Mitsuki to the actual exam room. “I’m fairly certain that Lee guy can use some genjutsu to make his teeth sparkle like that.”
“Figured you two had it handled, besides, they weren’t interested in me,” Mitsuki answers with a soft chuckle.
“Who thinks it is a good idea to have a spar right before the exams?” Sasuke demands and his chakra flares. “Like in what world does it make sense?”
“They’re under Maito Gai who is Kakashi’s self-proclaimed rival, and Kakashi doesn’t mind it—I think,” she replies as she tries to figure out if Kakashi actually likes Gai as a friend or not. “So they probably decided to scope us out.”
“Wait, is that the jounin who runs around on his hands shouting ‘youth’?” Sakura wonders.
“Yup, that’s him, and I wonder if he singled us out to his team, you know to carry on the rivalry,” Mitsuki confirms as she puts that piece of her constants into the puzzle that has been her life. She actually never gave it much thought before about why Gai’s team always singles them out. “Or they misconstrued what he wanted or they acted independently. Either way all three of them are pretty headstrong like their sensei.”
She watches as Sakura and Sasuke share a look over her head. Mitsuki bemoans to herself that a new rivalry has been born. It won’t be a healthy rivalry either. Sakura and Sasuke have become a bit feral in this loop under Kakashi’s teachings. They’ll play with Gai’s team like cats batting a toy around before pouncing on it.
“Yo my cute little genin,” Kakashi greets them as they arrive at the exam room door. He pauses and takes in Sakura and Sasuke, Mitsuki wonders what expressions they have on their faces. “No evil plotting.”
Petty, snarky rivalry it is then, she thinks.
“But what if they deserve it?” Sasuke asks with a pout.
“Yeah, Gai’s team challenged us, so we should return the favor, right?” Sakura adds imperiously as her chin stubbornly tilts up. She then fills him in on exactly what happened.
Kakashi’s eye flicks to Mitsuki who shrugs and then he gives them an eye smile. “Maa, that’s fine. Just don’t kill your fellow Konoha shinobi.”
The pleased chakra running through Sakura and Sasuke is amusing. Mitsuki shakes her head. Kakashi gives them hair ruffles and he tugs Mitsuki’s hair before flicking her forehead. She knows he’s still annoyed with her so she lets it all happen. Most likely she didn’t need to stay up late checking on her seals, but there’s a quiet fear in her that worries the new variables she has added in will bring about failure once more.
She doesn’t want to lose this connection she has with Kakashi.
***
Kakashi watches his little genin traipse into the exam room. He sighs and shunshins to where the other sensei are all gathered. There are TV monitors set up so they can watch the genin for part one of the exams. Kurenai and Asuma are already on a couch chatting so he heads to them.
“Saw your kids didn’t get tripped up by the trick room,” Asuma notes as Kakashi sits on the arm of the couch.
“I’d have them run five hundred laps around the village if they had fallen for it,” Kakashi replies and he stuffs his hands into his pockets. “Gai’s team challenged my team, well at least Sasuke, and then Lee, was it, asked out Sakura.”
Kurenai makes a noise that is half-amused and half-dismayed. “Oh no, they’re going to eat his genin alive, Kakashi.”
“Mitsuki was the least offended, but yes, Sakura and Sasuke are going to be little brats with their playthings,” he agrees with a sigh of amusem*nt. “Gai might end up regretting pointing out my team to his genin.”
As if summoned, the man himself bursts into the room and makes a beeline right for them.
“Gai, did you single out Kakashi’s team to yours?” Asuma asks, going right for the kill.
“Yes, as I wanted them to observe my rival’s dear team,” Gai replies and he looks a bit lost. “Why? Did something happen?”
“Lee challenged Sasuke to a spar, and it seems Tenten and Neji added in some insults about how they’ve got the experience to pass and my genin don’t,” Kakashi answers darkly.
He’s not too upset about Gai’s genin making such a mistake right before the chunin exams, but he wishes this event hadn’t happened for Mitsuki. It has to be a sore sticking point for her, because Lee had unveiled to her he had been allowed to become a genin even though he can’t mold chakra. There are more layers with her situation that made graduating difficult, but Kakashi has put together that this constant of hers had been a watershed moment for Mitsuki.
Gai winces. “I’ll have to lecture them about time and place for challenges. I apologize, Kakashi.”
“Don’t, it riled up Sakura and Sasuke so I think those two are determined to crush the exams now.” Kakashi waves him off as he watches the first exam kick off. Sakura and Sasuke are furiously writing and Mitsuki looks like she has fallen asleep. Poor Hinata looks torn about helping the girl cheat or not. “Don’t be surprised if they personally go after your team. You might want to warn them about that, actually.”
“I see they are quite heated in their spring time of youth,” Gai comments with a wide grin. “It seems you have been a good sensei.”
Kakashi doesn’t comment as Kurenai changes the topic. His thoughts turn dark again thinking about how the versions of himself in Mitsuki’s early looping had not been equipped to handle all three genin. At first he had blamed himself for not being able to be of any help to those three kids. But during a spar Mitsuki had gotten in his face about it. She must have seen some expression on him, during the genin practice time, that tipped her off he had been beating himself about failing to be a good sensei.
After tackling him to the ground, after exhausting him of chakra, she had sat on his chest to keep him pinned. Then she went point by point down the list of reasons why he had done the best he could before she started going to him about the looping, or when she’d manipulate events to get him to teach how she wanted. She had trailed off as she realized she had manipulated past versions of himself.
He had hated the pale, shaken look on her as she had curled in on herself. Kakashi had sat up, the spar entirely forgotten and over with, so he could hold her to him. He had assured her she had done nothing wrong, that she was doing the best she could with a situation she didn’t have much control over. She had to grow up within a never ending cycle as she tried to figure out how to survive, how to save her precious people, and how to end the looping.
Mitsuki had cried in his arms afterwards. She kept apologizing to him and he kept assuring her she had done nothing wrong. It had been a vicious cycle until she had fallen asleep after he swore to her he would never hold her past actions from her looping against her.
Kakashi thinks she is carrying years upon years of guilt, not to mention the trauma she has been through, and he wonders if Inoichi can help her process that because Kakashi isn’t confident he will be enough to help her.
The first exam ends with little fanfare besides Anko’s dramatic entrance. Kakashi watches as Mitsuki yawns widely as Sakura hauls her up out of her chair. There had been no motivational speech so a lot of teams didn’t pass the first round. Kakashi tracks the team Orochimaru is on and he also clocks Kabuto as they file out of the exam room. He can’t enter the next portion of the exam to help Mitsuki deal with those two, because Shikaku wants to play this safe and cautious so Orochimaru and Sarutobi do not get tipped off to their movements. Kakashi can only put his faith in Mitsuki that she and her teammates will get out of the next portion fairly unscathed.
“Hey Gai, wanna make a bet?” Kakashi asks idly. Until Mitsuki and his two genin are out of the training grounds for the next portion of the exam, he is going to need a lot of distractions so no one catches on that he’s anxious.
***
“We are not going after Gai’s team,” Mitsuki tells Sakura and Sasuke flatly the moment they’re in the forest. She gets two identical looks of outrage, so she pushes on, “If we knock them out now, then in the sparring section of the exams that means you might not get to play with them before you beat them in a fair fight.”
“That’s a good point,” Sakura mutters while rubbing her chin. “So who should we go after?”
“That annoying genin, Kabuto was his name, right?” Sasuke offers with a shrug. “I’m not saying it’s sad he hasn’t passed yet, but also, he was weird with his little cards and that pissed me off.”
Mitsuki does not comment that the card that had annoyed all of the Rookie Nine had been her card. She might have manipulated her card to be just wrong enough to make Kabuto think she’s improved but still the dead last. She doesn’t need anyone seeing her near-Kage like skills and power. Part of her also wonders why her card had been picked out of everyone’s. But she thinks of her friends who had looked expectant, before they were outraged at the results, and she realized they had wanted to show the other Konoha genin teams she is no longer the bottom of the barrel. It’s a touching thought and it warms her heart and soul.
Her teammates interest in going after Kabuto will work nicely for her in the long run. Shikaku wants him off of the board early and fast. So Mitsuki just needs to slap on a seal that will kill him once she activates it. It turns out she can embed poison within a seal if she gets creative enough, the poison being some of Kurama’s chakra. He had been more than happy to provide his chakra knowing it would be a painful death for Kabuto.
“Right, we’ll need to move fast to cover a lot of ground to even find him in this jungle of a forest,” Sakura remarks. She pulls on her gloves and then tosses their scroll to Mitsuki. “Hold onto that, please and thank you.”
Mitsuki seals it away and she follows her two teammates up and into the trees. She drops back just enough to go into sage mode. Orochimaru and his team started out on the opposite side of the forest, but he can move fast if he wants. He always attacks on the first day. So it might be best for her to deal with him before they find Kabuto. The trick will be to make sure they don’t fight Kabuto and Orochimaru in the same space.
***
Two hours into their running and Mitsuki feels a headache growing. Orochimaru keeps jumping around the forest trying to find them. He hasn’t figured out yet that he can’t track their chakra signatures. She had slapped two seals onto Sakura and Sasuke who had been delighted with her little tricks, because her seal masks their chakra signatures to be white noise to sensors. He hasn’t attacked the other genin, which she sends a silent thanks to any kami listening and watching over her. But his shunshins have triggered a lot of her seals in quick succession. That much information coming in has been a strain on her.
“Found him,” Sakura whispers triumphantly.
Sasuke changes course as he follows closely on her heels. Mitsuki drops her sage mode for now. Her disguise seals can’t hide the changes that come from using sage chakra. She also needs to take a break from it as she’s buzzing with energy. It feels like her old looping days when she didn’t know what to do with all of the chakra swirling around inside her.
The other Konoha team has taken a break so they get the drop on them easily. Mitsuki figures Kabuto needed them to stop so he can try and figure out where Orochimaru is and where her team is, but they were kind and came to him.
Kabuto is a high level chunin at best and if he didn’t need to hide his true skills he’d be annoying to fight. But Mitsuki delights knowing he is going to struggle over not being able to show his full capabilities and the fact he cannot harm Sasuke. So he’ll go after her or Sakura, which will piss off the Uchiha to no end.
Sakura drops one of the teammates with ease. She minutely looks disappointed there had been little to no fight before she chases after her next prey, while Mitsuki and Sasuke tag team Kabuto. The spy is agitated to say the least. He fights back as best as he can, but he’s definitely pulling his punches. Sasuke’s sparks of annoyance tell her he knows as well from using his sharingan.
As Kabuto goes right, to avoid Sasuke’s fireball, she follows with her seal ready to go in her hand. Mitsuki gets it on him with a blow to his head. She packed some extra chakra in it, pulling a Sakura-style chakra fueled punch, and she’s willing to bet she has him mildly concussed. She twists to the side to let Sasuke get a shot in. But she changes course quickly as she grabs the back of her friend’s shirt and jumps for a nearby tree. A second later a huge snake snaps at thin air.
Orochimaru has finally figured out how to find them or at least his summons have found the trick. Mitsuki tosses Sasuke to Sakura as the snake follows her. She watches as the summons lunges, mouth agape, and right as its mouth closes around her she switches herself with Kabuto. The spy screams briefly and before he can break free she activates the seal she placed on him. The snake swallows him right as Orochimaru appears looking stunned. He must have felt Kabuto’s chakra wink out in a violent manner with how sudden it felt, because he knows as well the snake swallowing Kabuto wouldn’t have killed him.
His golden eyes slide to her and he knows she did something. So Mitsuki borrows some of Kurama’s chakra to coat her with the red energy. She wants him to think she accidentally injected the spy with the corrosive chakra. Which yeah that’s how she killed him, but she’ll let the Sannin think it was by pure accident and not intentional. After all, much to her ire, Orochimaru has her labeled as a second-coming of Jiraiya.
“Why is she alone?” Sakura wonders as they regroup on a tree branch. “Does she think she can take us on three versus one?”
“Because they aren’t a genin,” Mitsuki answers flatly. She juts her chin at the summons who has just been forcefully dismissed. “Only two people can summon snakes, and I doubt Anko would sick hers on us during her part of the exam.”
“Orochimaru then,” Sasuke observes with a dark look. “Why is a traitor coming after genin?”
“You’ve got pretty eyes, Sasuke, do the math,” Mitsuki quips and her two friends’ eyes widen. “We’re going to have to do a runner. He’s way out of our league.”
“Kukuku, I don’t think you’ll be outrunning me,” Orochimaru hisses out in delight as his disguise begins to melt off.
He is probably planning to kill Sakura, incapacitate Mitsuki, and then bite Sasuke. That would leave, in theory, her and Sasuke alone for hours before help reached them. In the early loops this would have worked, and has worked before in her third loop, but Mitsuki now has the older Ino-Shika-Co helping her with Kakashi by her side. She also has years of experience to prevent the tragedy of her fourth loop from ever happening again.
The goal with the Snake Sannin is to get him to use up a lot of chakra in one go. It will get him to flee quickly because Anbu and jounin will move in the moment they feel any chakra above a genin’s level. It will also put Konoha on alert that Orochimaru is lurking about. That means tightened security, which will make Suna wary of proceeding with the attack if Orochimaru bungles up his part of their plans.
Mitsuki licks her lips as she pulls the seal she needs onto her hand. She will only have one shot to trap him in this layered genjutsu.
“I need more of your raw chakra, make it hurt,” she tells Kurama who scowls heavily at her.
“I will personally make you sleep and heal for forty-eight hours once this damn exam is over,” he snarls back, but he complies as his chakra overwhelms her.
She’s fast now, inhumanly fast, as she sprints to Orochimaru. Briefly she henges into Jiraiya as Orochimaru goes to stab her. He pauses, a hairsbreadth of an opening, and she drops the henge as her palm hits him over the heart. Kurama changes his chakra to the golden color as she flickers back to Sakura and Sasuke, healing her chakra pathways as fast as he can. Mitsuki keeps her eyes trained on the Snake Sannin who freezes as the seal activates. His eyes widen.
And then he screams.
***
“What was that?” Asuma asks faintly as a giant burst of chakra washes out of the forest like a tidal wave.
Anbu flash into the room and begin informing the gathered genin sensei that there is an intruder in the forest. Actions are being taken to keep all genin safe. The sensei are to remain here while the Anbu investigate. A Yamanaka will be mind walking all of them to make sure they are not behind the attack from this intruder.
Kurenai and Gai share looks of worry while Asuma pulls out a fresh cigarette. Kakashi’s tense. Orochimaru is clashing with his genin and he still can’t do anything.
He has only gleaned a little bit about Orochimaru and the forest from Mitsuki’s early looping. None of them are good stories. Kakashi clasps his hands together as he settles in to wait.
***
Sometimes it is the most simple of plans that work the best. Mitsuki and a shadow clone carry Sasuke and Sakura as they flee through the forest. Behind them Orochimaru is still screaming in agony and despair, still trapped in the genjutsu she created.
Inoichi had been the inspiration for this seal. The Ino-Shika-Cho group had analyzed everything she had shared about the Sannin. Due to Inoichi’s work in TI he had the best perspective, as she learned, for devising a way to get Orochimaru to unleash his chakra to trip sensors to inform Konoha that a shinobi way above a genin-level had trespassed during the exam.
“He fears death, we know that much, and he must still hold some affection for Jiraiya and Tsunade as he has never gone after them—even though he could easily incapacitate them or kill them. He also covets the sharingan. Trauma has been how the Uchiha unlocked their sharingan, so let’s let him think he has the Uchiha eyes finally and to unlock the final stages he sees himself killing his friends,” Inoichi revealed slowly. He gave Kakashi an apologetic look. “I know this hits close to home, but I believe this will be the best and safest way to yield the results we want to keep Mitsuki and your two genin safe.”
Kakashi had nodded tightly. Mitsuki laced their fingers together and gave them a squeeze.
“I can make a genjutsu seal to trap him in it,” Mitsuki told them. She bit her lip as she thought about using her own experiences of seeing her best friends and Kakashi being killed. “If I can layer it right, then I can add a seal that will flood him with my own feelings of rage and despair.”
She winced as Kakashi’s grip turned bruising.
“I won’t test it on myself. I know it will work as I accidentally activated a similar seal in Uzushio,” she had confessed after all four men had stared at her in worry that soon turned to alarm. “I think Uzushio had been invaded during multiple Mastery Exams or something. I found a lot of seals and I studied them, and accidentally activated a few. Honestly, I get why other villages were terrified of my mother village, even I was horrified by some of the seals I found.”
Later, Kakashi had held her to him and she had to assure him she was fine. He hadn’t really believed her until she told him how many loops ago it had been. He had relented when he learned it had been over twenty loops ago.
Mitsuki imagines he’s going to be keeping her close to his side once they make it to the tower.
“You’re gonna explain a lot to us once we’re in a secure place,” Sakura tells her, her voice tickling her ear.
“I know, I know,” Mitsuki responds and she winces when Orochimaru escapes after breaking free of the genjutsu. All of her seals in the forest go haywire and then fry. He’s not in the village at least even if her brain wants to melt out of her own ears as the backlash hits her hard. “I’m out of chakra.”
It’s an excuse. She still has chakra she can use. But her concentration is sh*t and she doesn’t know how to explain to her teammates she’s experiencing a kaleidoscope of sensory overload. Sasuke swears as her shadow clone pops. Her legs give out and Sakura grabs her before her face smacks into a tree trunk. Mitsuki distantly feels herself be placed on Sasuke’s back. Both of her teammates murmur and whisper to each other as they take stock of their surroundings.
“We did get the scroll we need,” Sakura murmurs. “So I say we just keep going until we get to the tower.”
“Mitsuki, is Orochimaru gone?” Sasuke asks her and she nods against his neck. “Kakashi slipped me soldier pills, so let’s get the hell out of here.”
***
Kakashi checks them all over in the tower. Sakura and Sasuke are a little bruised and roughed up, but it’s Mitsuki who has him worried. She is silent and she keeps grimacing as she presses the heel of her hand to her temple. He hadn’t liked the whole seal tracking, even if it had been necessary, because he had learned when they had been in the forest that if she receives too much information at once she’ll get a migraine. He can only imagine how bad her head is hurting from Orochimaru.
He ushers them to the next room where they will wait to find out if they’ll do a preliminary match or if they will announce the final part of the exam with their lineups.
They are the second team to have arrived. The Suna team with the jinuchuuriki Gaara arrived earlier. Kakashi had watched the older siblings toss their brother assessing looks. The boy had remained indifferent as he stared at a wall and didn’t acknowledge them. So Mitsuki’s seal that gave Gaara some peace of mind must have worked.
“Do we kill time for now?” Sakura asks him as they settle against a wall.
“We’ve got a couple more days, so use this time to rest up on the off chance you’ll be going straight into spars once the time limit is up,” Kakashi replies as he maneuvers Mitsuki to lean against him. She’s out of it from what he can see based on how easily she moves in his grip. “How long has she been like this?”
“It’s gotten worse since this morning,” Sasuke answers. He casts his teammate a worried look. “I think Orochimaru made it worse because she used this weird red chakra. Sakura gave her medicine so hopefully that kicks in soon.”
Kakashi swallows against the words he wants to say. Sakura and Sasuke have begun to put the pieces together about Mitsuki being a jinchuuriki. He can’t tell them, and Mitsuki isn’t supposed to know so she can’t in theory tell them either. But, he reasons, those two wouldn’t rat her out to the Sandaime. If anything he and Mitsuki would be tasked with making sure two genin do not kill Sarutobi—even if it would be justified in Kakashi’s humble opinion.
“We’ll talk about that later, in a more secure place,” he tells them in a low voice. He gets two fierce nods and then the two begin to stretch. Kakashi glances at Mitsuki whose eyes are barely staying open. “Get some sleep.”
She mumbles against his vest, barely formed words but he knows she protested she’s not tired. His arm curls around Mitsuki to pull her in closer, which makes her nose dig into his side. She inhales deeply and then exhales on a contented sigh. Mitsuki must realize where she is and who she is with as he feels her go lax finally.
An Anbu approaches them an hour later with what looks like a summons to the Sandaime’s office. Sakura and Sasuke turn on the Anbu, and Kakashi is generous to call those looks that could kill. They draped their blankets from their sealed packs over Mitsuki after their stretching. She hasn’t moved or woken up yet. Kakashi feels a curl of warmth in him knowing she’s only asleep because she trusts him and feels safe with him.
“You are all needed,” the Anbu says quietly.
Kakashi sighs and he gently wakes Mitsuki. Her eyelids flutter before she snaps to alertness. In that moment he sees a bit of the Kage she could be in her gaze. It slants to the Anbu demanding for answers with a silent expectation that she shouldn’t have to ask out loud why they have been summoned.
“The Sandaime wishes to learn more about what happened with Orochimaru,” the Anbu informs her. Kakashi wonders if the Anbu sees Minato-sensei in her by the way she holds herself. They are definitely standing straighter and it is not because of Kakashi’s unimpressed glare.
“Very well, let’s go see what the old man wants,” she responds as she stretches.
She doesn’t move with urgency so her teammates remain sitting on the ground. Kakashi watches in amusem*nt as the Anbu stiffens with the realization that Mitsuki controls Team Seven. Even he had been a little surprised when he realized his two genin defer to her for leadership even when he is present.
“Okay, I’m ready,” his favorite kunoichi says after she eats an onigiri that Sakura gave her.
Kakashi closes his book. Ten minutes have passed and the Anbu has been antsy since Mitsuki didn’t leave for the Hokage’s office right away. He can only imagine how annoyed Sarutobi will be, and he’s looking forward to what will happen.
***
Mitsuki pauses when she sees Jiraiya standing behind Sarutobi. This is new. But his presence might be necessary because she and Kakashi removed Danzo, and the two elders retired after the fallout of Root became known. Shikaku glances at her from where he stands nearby.
“Are we picking up Kakashi’s wayward habit of tardiness, Mitsuki-kun?” Sarutobi asks around his pipe.
“Well, when I was woken from a deserved nap, after dealing with your psychotic student, I felt I could move at whatever speed pleased me,” she replies with a shrug. “How can we be of help?”
“We need to interview you all about what happened,” he answers.
Sakura and Sasuke press into her sides. Kakashi hovers just behind them. Mitsuki braces herself as they endure four hours of questioning. Multiple times they have to stop so they can all drink water.
Both Jiraiya and Sarutobi pale when they hear about Orochimaru and the red chakra. Shikaku sends her a look of concern. She can’t send him a reassuring look, so she presses on as she continues her side of the story as she explains her actions. When they have to explain how they escaped Orochimaru, both Sakura and Sasuke defer to Mitsuki who explains she just pushed the red chakra into him to make it hurt. That explanation is accepted along with why she collapsed after carrying her teammates to safety.
Eventually the questioning ends. She has been leaning against Kakashi for support and she wants to go back to the tower so she can nap against him again. That hour nap left her feeling even more exhausted. But it seems like the Sandaime still wants something as he shifts in his seat as if he is gearing up for a different topic.
“A moment of your time, just you, Mitsuki-kun,” Sarutobi instructs.
Sakura and Sasuke bristle against her. Kakashi’s chakra spikes and fluctuates with annoyance. He probably has guessed what the Sandaime wants to talk to her about—Jiraiya becoming her instructor.
“Sure, I’ll see you guys outside in five minutes, okay?” Mitsuki replies. She makes shooing motions at her team who all give her annoyed looks.
“I’ll not be held responsible if these two break down the door to get you after five minutes have passed,” Kakashi agrees after making an exaggerated sigh.
“Thanks!” She waits, maintaining her cheeriness until her teammates are gone, and then she turns to look back at the Sandaime and her cheerfulness melts away. “What do you want, old man?”
Jiraiya begins to squawk at her for her disrespect, which is rich. Shikaku leans against the wall watching her with amusem*nt. Sarutobi merely smiles, but it is strained.
“I wanted to discuss a mentorship with you and a student of mine, Jiraiya here,” Sarutobi begins slowly. “You will have a month to prepare for your match, and I thought he could impart some wisdom to you. He taught the Yondaime after all.”
Mitsuki observes the various reactions that happen in regards to the last sentence. Shikaku’s chakra coils up tightly as his jaw clenches at the poorly laid bait to tempt her. Guilt and grief wash over Jiraiya as his mouth twists in displeasure at the reminder of his favorite student. She waits, watching to see what else Jiraiya will do, but he remains oddly quiet. Sarutobi watches her expectantly. He assumes she’ll jump with joy. But he has forgotten she has changed a lot since she graduated.
“I’m good, thanks, though,” she responds with a shallow bow. “If that’s all, Sandaime-sama. I would like to go and wait for the second part of the exam to finish with my team.”
“Are you sure?” Sarutobi presses, his brows are furrowed with confusion.
“Yup, I’m pretty certain, besides, I don’t know him and your track record of students isn’t really golden. I think I’ll take my chances with Kakashi who was taught by the Yondaime,” Mitsuki answers slowly. She sighs when she sees the look of alarm on the Sandaime’s face. “I stole a Bingo Book and found out he had been taught by the Yondaime, unless that’s supposed to be an S-class secret, sir.”
That gets the Sandaime to wince. Because no one has revealed the S-class secret in this loop, she isn’t supposed to know about Kurama and why the village hates her.
“There is something we must still talk about that will require more than five minutes, Mitsuki-kun. I have another reason for Jiraiya to be present,” Sarutobi begins after an uncomfortable silence. “I can have someone tell your team we need some more time.”
Five minutes have almost passed. She wonders why he didn’t contradict her earlier, but then she realizes he was going to have Jiraiya tell her about being a jinchuuriki. This could have been a fast meeting if she had accepted the offer to have the man teach her. A cold anger rises up, burning and pinching at her making it hard to breathe, at the audacity of the Sandaime to not just tell her to her face about the burden and legacy she carries.
“Is it about me being a jinchuuriki, sir?” Mitsuki asks right as Sakura and Sasuke burst in through the door.
“I f*cking knew it,” Sakura hisses out with a vicious, triumphant look.
