AIC

(This was uploaded before and deleted, this probably isn’t the final version because I don’t like it yet.)  

She used hiraishin to return to her office in Kirigakure. She sat the rug down and unrolled it enough that Orochimaru’s pale face could be seen. Then she pulsed her chakra and cleared her throat. “Security,” Aiko called. Her voice was still a bit off, but much closer to her usual pitch. Her throat was quickly healing. “If you don’t mind, can someone come in here?”

The black operative who answered her call was clearly about 70% certain that he was walking into a trap, but he obediently entered the office. She could tell that he was looking at the body on the floor. 

“I would like someone from T&I,” Aiko said. “Asai-san. And a medic.” She cast a dispassionate glance at Orochimaru. “He seems quite dead, but you never know. It’s good to check.” She set the stolen knife on her desk.

The operative hesitated. “Mizukage-sama,” they said. “It is protocol-“

“Not to leave me alone with a prospective threat, I know,” Aiko agreed. She used her bare toes to push Orochimaru’s face over. “I think it’s fine. Go.”

While she was alone, she tossed the sheets to the floor near a wall. That was all the time she had before a chuunin hurried in. Their vest marked them as a tower guard- ah, they must have been alerted by one of the proximity alarms.

“Good evening,” she said. 

“Good evening,” the man parroted back. He couldn’t meet her eye. He, too, was looking at the body on the floor. “I- how can I help you, Mizukage-sama?”

Aiko hummed. “I could use a set of clothes from my house,” she said. “Body sheets, I don’t have time for a shower but I don’t feel clean. Oh, coffee and something light to eat would be good. And is there a 24-hour coin laundry nearby?” She jerked her head at Orochimaru’s silk sheets. “I don’t trust those, but I love them.”

The chuunin bowed. “I’ll have a wet washcloth sent up from downstairs, then take the fabric to a laundromat on my way to retrieve clothes, wipes, and food from your home.”

“Acceptable,”’ Aiko said. “Thank you.” 

He was barely out the door when two more black ops agents flashed in. They seemed to want to stand menacingly at either side of the door waiting for orders, so she let them at it and sat down at her desk.

Orochimaru remained still and dead, as he had been doing for the last ten minutes or so. It was the most agreeable she’d ever seen him. She hoped that he would continue the good work.

A different chuunin came in and offered her a plastic box with two warm, wet towels. She edged a little conspiciously away from Orochimaru. Aiko dismissed the woman and then tried to wipe off the smell of antiseptics and death. It didn't really work, but it took the edge off.

For lack of anything else to do, she began to look through the notes waiting from Nishikawa-san. He had listed the paperwork awaiting her attention. A pile that just needed to be signed off on could be immediately addressed, so she searched those out in the orange folder the note described and went to work with a pen and her seal of office. Pay bump, approved. New regulations for hallway width in clinics to accommodate stretchers, approved. Planning permit for an outpost on Wave, approved. Adjustment to the tax code-

“Mizukage-sama.” The first Black Operative was back, with Asai-san and an elderly woman who Aiko did not recognize. “Asai-san, and the medic recommended by the current Head of Affairs on-shift at the hospital, Okuno-sensei.”

“Thank you,” Aiko said. She glanced down and stamped once more. “Okuno-sensei, please confirm that Orochimaru-san is sufficently dead. Asai-san, oversee and verify.”

They were professionals who didn’t need her peering over their shoulders, so she went back to her paperwork.

“Deceased,” Okuno-sensei reported after a time. She stood up to her full height, a towering 148cm. Aiko realized that, for once, she was not the shortest adult in the room. “Cause of death was a stopped heart. Traces of poison in system.”

“Poison? That wasn’t me,” Aiko said idly. “I wonder how often people try to kill him.”

“It’s possible that it was his poison, given the subject,” Okuno-sensei allowed. “Is there anything in specific you would like me to look for?”

She thought about it. Orochimaru had wanted to look at her, and look where that had gotten him. He hadn’t killed her quite dead enough, and then she’d gotten up and killed him. But he had gotten all sorts of bodily enhancements that would be quite interesting to her intelligence departments. Waste not, want not. “I think that I would like him beheaded,” she said. “The body can be examined in a secure location. I’ll keep the head.”

Maybe on her wall.

“Yes, Mizukage-sama,” Okuno-sensei said. “Would you like me to do that here, or in my lab?”

Aiko winced. “I don’t want anything on my rug,” she said. “It’s nice, isn’t it?”

Okuno-sensei paused. “Yes,” she agreed. “Very soft.”

“Thank you,” Aiko said, even though she’d prompted the compliment. “I stole it from Orochimaru. I don’t think he needs it anymore, and I hate to waste.”

“Ah.” 

She couldn’t see what Okuno-sensei thought of that, because Aiko was in the process of approving shipping contract renegotiations.

“Perhaps you should have it steam-cleaned,” Okuno-sensei suggested. Her tone was very mild.

“I think that would be a good idea as well,” Asai-san spoke up for the first time. 

Aiko nodded indulgently. “Fair enough. Although he kept a much cleaner house than I would have expected,” she allowed. She remembered the long, empty hallways and antiseptic smell. “Aside from all the venom, it was nearly a hospital.”

“The venom is an important exception to the cleanliness,” Okuno-sensei said. “Shall I take the body away by myself?”

“No, no.” Aiko finished the paper she was on and stood. “It would be a little irresponsible to let him out of my sight. Where in the hospital would you like to work?”

“The west ward, on the third floor,” came the prompt response. Asai-san watched with a rather ambiguous expression as Aiko came around her desk and began lifting Orochimaru’s feet. One of her security guards rushed to lift his arms, and then another gently inserted himself to take Orochimaru’s feet out of Aiko’s grip. She let him do it and stood to the side. She placed one hand on Orochimaru’s stomach, deliberately feeling to extend her connection to the two people holding him. “Okuno-sensei, Asai-san,” she said. “If you don’t mind, please touch my arm.” She held out her left hand. When they did, she took the whole party to the hospital. 

Okuno-sensei blinked at the third floor reception desk. The nurse behind it stood so fast that her curls bounced. 

Her aim was a little off. “My mistake,” Aiko said. “This is the central area, isn’t it?”

“Yes, but it’s quite fine,” Okuno-sensei said calmly. “We can walk from here. Nakata-san, would you let the Head doctor know that I am back in the hospital and will be using operation room 2?”

The nurse nodded. Her eyes were very wide as she watched the odd procession take off towards the west wing of the hospital. Daylight was beginning to pour through the windows as they set the body on a table and the doctor quite clinically separated the head from the body with a chakra scalpel. It made a mess. Aiko was glad that the mess was not on her rug, especially since Orochimaru’s blood sizzled when it made contact with oxygen. 

“Hm.” Okuno-sensei observed this from a safe distance. She leaned forward, but did not touch the blood. “Perhaps… May I put the head into a plastic bag for you, Mizukage-sama? And may I assume that the body is to be released into Asai-san’s custody?”

“That’s probably a good idea,” Aiko agreed. “Thank you. And yes, I’d like that examined, Asai-san. Carefully.” When she had her prize in hand, she returned to her office. The chuunin was nervously waiting with a small bag in his left hand and two larger ones in his right. He watched as she put Orochimaru’s head on a shelf between some books. “Karin-san chose the clothing,” he said. “She informed me that I should make you an omelet in your kitchen and enclose a salad. I hope that is acceptable.” He held out the small bag.

“Thank you,” Aiko said. “That’s fine.” She accepted the bag of food and peered inside to see sesame seed salad dressing cheerily perched on top of two plastic containers. There was also a bottle of milk, a box of juice, and an apple. “Clothes, please.” The man stiffly handed her the bags- one only held her black ankle boots. “The sanitary sheets?”

“On your desk.” He bowed. “By your leave, Mizukage-sama.”

“A coffee, please,” Aiko said as he left. She was already stripping off Orochimaru’s shirt and reaching for the body wipes. She wiped off the lingering sensation of fear and antiseptic and pulled on the clothes that Karin had picked out. Apparently, Karin thought that Aiko might need the confidence boost from an expensive set of glittery underwear today. She had paired it with slim-fitting grey pants and a low-cut blue shirt. There was a plastic baggie with coverup, mascara, and a bold red lipstick.

Karin, Aiko thought, was a very clever little girl. The last thing in the bag was her dark blue jacket with her title embroidered on the back. It was a perfectly acceptable outfit for meeting with someone fairly important, as well as comfortable and practical.

She sat down at her desk and ate. Orochimaru glared dolefully at the doorway and slowly leaked venom into the bag. The chuunin returned with a cup of coffee in shaking hands. “What’s the time?” she asked.

He checked his watch. “5:42.”

Aiko nodded slowly. “Thank you. That will be all. Oh, take these out to Nishikawa-san’s desk on your way out.” He accepted the papers that she gave him and closed her office door behind him. 

Because she was not an absolute lunatic who was willing to bother someone at this hour for a meeting, Aiko worked quietly and got ahead on the day’s work. The sun fully rose, so she shut off the office light to conserve electricity. Staff began trickling in. The office hummed with soft movement- the flutter of paper as they took turns stamping the attendance book, the trickle of coffee percolating, the sound of windows being opened to let in the cool morning air. 

Nishikawa knocked at her door and came inside just enough to make eye contact. “Good morning,” he greeted. He held up several envelopes that probably held the paperwork she’d already finished and had put on his desk. “Is there anything else that I should send with the morning mail?”

“Yes, here.” She gestured to the appropriate pile on her desk. It included two complete folders. “Thank you. I don’t have any meeting scheduled for the morning, do it?”

“You do not,” he politely confirmed as he crossed the room to retrieve the paperwork. “Should I write anything down?”

Aiko nodded and leaned back. “Yes, I’m going to go on an errand,” she said. “Please put on my schedule that I’ll be in a meeting with the Hokage from about 9am.”

Nishikawa glanced at the clock, which said 8am.  “Does the Hokage know?” he asked. The question was only a little cheeky- he wanted to know if he had missed some communications.

“He does not know,” Aiko confirmed. “It’s a surprise meeting. I hope that I’m not interrupting anything important.” She did not bother to sound particularly sincere. The Hokage would make time for a visit from the Mizukage, especially when the Mizukage chose to ask for a meeting by waiting in line at the first-floor reception area of Hokage tower. 

After a break for tea and a snack, that was exactly what she did. She was pleased but not terribly surprised that the waiting line in the lobby was very quiet. She nodded a ‘good morning’ to anyone who made eye contact, but most people were looking at the plastic bag idling and twisting near her thigh. It was secured by a handle of thick pink yarn around her wrist. A purple logo against Orochimaru’s ear declared that the bag had come from a cake shop. 

...It was hard to find a bag large enough for a human head on short notice.

It didn’t take long for someone to come to fetch her. Raidou cleared his throat. 

She nodded at him. Didn't think about near-murders in other timelines. Death was such a funny and impermanent thing. No consequences, no relief. She took a moment to tap Orochimaru's head, looking for a reaction. Nothing.

“Good morning, Mizukage-sama.” His tone was perfectly even and polite. “Actually, you don’t need to wait in line. Please follow me.”

“Are you certain?” Aiko asked. “I’m nearly to the front of the line. I don’t want to be rude.”

“It’s fine,” he confirmed. He led her up the stairs. 

Sarutobi was waiting in his office for her. So were his advisors, Nara Shikaku, and Danzou. Everyone murmured a polite good morning. Nara-san held out a chair for her and gestured that she could put her bag on the side table. She did so delicately.

The third Hokage was staring at it. Conscientiously, Aiko reached out again and readjusted the bag so that the face was pointing towards the Hokage. He did not wince, but he might have wanted to.

“I thought that you might like to know that this issue has been resolved,” Aiko said. She kept her tone quite mild. “I’m sorry that I did not schedule a meeting in advance, but I am glad to see that such an august body could meet on short notice.” 

“Of course,” Homura said weakly. “It was no trouble.”

Nara bowed as well. The Hokage did not make a move to speak, so he asked, “What can we do for you, Mizukage-sama?”

Aiko crossed her ankles and tilted her head. “Well, I believe that Konoha and the Fire Daimyo jointly offered a bounty for Orochimaru-san,” she said. “That can be sent to Kirigakure’s general account through the post office bank. You have the routing numbers, I believe. And if you would get out a map, I can mark the locations of Orochimaru-san’s former bases, so that you can investigate them. As they are mostly in Fire Nation, I wouldn’t presume to step on any toes.” 

It would take time for any Konoha shinobi to reach even the closest base. She’d go there on her way home and clear out anything particularly valuable. But it was polite to tell them about their holes in security.

“Of course,” Danzo said stiffly.

Since she was already in Konoha-

“Oh, and I’d like to speak with Namikaze-san on my students’ behalves. I believe that he was the point of contact when they were questioned after Orochimaru-san’s chuunin-exams aggression.” She flipped her braid back over her shoulder.

“…Is this about that apology letter?” Sanbi asked her.

Yes. How would she know the letter was sufficiently sincere if she didn’t see him write it?

Slowly, the Sandaime looked past her to make eye contact with his advisors. She was polite enough not to turn her head to watch whatever they were silently communicating. “Fine,” the Sandaime said. “Would someone fetch Namikaze-sama, please?” 

Ah. Sama. Perhaps she ought to have been a little politer. She contemplated that as an ANBU fucked off to whatever office they'd stashed the zombie in.

"No, I don't think it's necessary," Sanbi said. "His manners are not particularly nice, and he is no friend of ours."

'I should be better, though. I'm representing something bigger than myself.'

"About the head," Sandaime-sama began warily.

"Do you want it?" Aiko asked. She blinked and uncrossed her legs under the table. "I- Hmm. I suppose I thought that I would keep it, but it's more than reasonable that you'd want to make sure it's authentic." She frowned, a little disquieted by her own impulse to keep it as a trophy. It was just gonna get hella yucky, fast. Maybe she was getting a little weird. "You can have it," she decided. She tapped her fingers on the table. "Be careful, though. I wouldn't touch that without gloves. Did you know he was venomous? Like, sizzling on contact with oxygen, I guess that's an acidic property, really... Was that a new thing? Ah, I suppose you wouldn't tell me either way."

Everyone leaned back from the table. It was slight, but it definitely happened. 

Probably had happened since Orochimaru had left Konoha, then.

"Thank you." The Sandaime defintely sounded strained. "As you say..." He coughed. "The bounty, yes. We will of course make good on our promises. I will send a delegate to the Daimyo as well. And we ought to make a public announcement." 

"Announce what?" Namikaze's voice was annoyingly cheerful.

She turned and caught the instant he saw the head on the table, and then her a moment later. He brightened. It was, she thought, truly obnoxious.

"False," Sanbi hissed.

"I did not," Sanbi said. He sounded affronted. "I do not hiss. What are- what are you referring to?"

Aiko frowned. 'You just said-'

"I did not say anything."

...She tried really, really hard not to contemplate what a second voice in her head might indicate. A mental break seemed like the best option.

This is fine. Everything is fine. It's just great.

"Mizukage-sama," her estranged, deceased, and annoying father said. He dipped his head toward her. "As expected."

"As expected?" The Sandaime said sharply. 

Namikaze blinked and focused on the living. "We haven't talked," he pre-emptively denied. "I just meant that it was inevitable that she would kill Orochimaru."

Homura's eyes slid to the head. "Inevitable," he repeated.

Her muscles were very tense. She was not thinking about waking up in a room full of corpses and a relentless march toward a fight she really hadn't felt prepared for. She was- she was-

"More importantly," she said. Her voice came out a bit sharper than she intended. "Namikaze-san, has anyone updated you on international law regarding the treatment of non-hostiles?"

He blinked.

"Your behavior toward my students was inappropriate," she said. And ah, she was feeling more like herself. She leaned into the feeling and an aggressive tone. "Solo interrogation of a genin by a Kage is so far beyond the bounds of acceptable treatment of, I will stress, an ally only asked to remain in custody in order to provide information about his actions against aggressors."

He seemed pretty lost.

Aiko bared her teeth and gestured at the nook where an ANBU would be hiding. "Get nice stationary," she commanded. "I promised Yuusaku-kun that he would be receiving an apology."

Namikaze ran a hand through his hair. "Okay," he said. 

She got the feeling that he might not be aware he was talking aloud. 

"I can roll with this punch." He blinked and straightened a little bit. His tone changed. "I can write a letter. No, I was not aware of changes in international law, and I suppose that I had also not really considered that this peacetime environment might call for a different approach." He tilted his head. "I was also not primed to consider that this is, in fact, a peacetime environment, given my arrival."

She made a face. "That's fair," Aiko admitted. "Put that in your letter, that's mitigating."

"He's not entirely approaching normal, but competent," Sanbi commented.

Yeah, she kinda respected that for some reason.

Namikaze looked at the super-secret ANBU hiding nook. "Get the paper," he said, as if baffled that no one had leapt to follow her orders.

Danzou cleared his throat. 

Aiko glanced at him and then immediately back to the more important people in the room, which really wasn't saying much. 

"What, exactly, should I be considering as I draft this?" Namikaze asked. He leaned against the wall. "I can see that a genin would have been intimidated, is that the largest issue to address?" He frowned. "Power harassment?" he said, trying the thought out. "Is that what that was? I suppose it would be over-"

Danzou tapped his cane on the floor.

"whelming, given the different in rank and that, oh, a foreign military leader is..." Namikaze frowned. He glanced at her. "Probably feeling guilty or inadequate for failing to live up to what he thinks you or Kirigakure would expect?''

"That's exactly it," Aiko said. She was relieved that someone was getting it. "And getting- an entirely warranted- promotion to chuunin after probably exacerbated the situation-"

"Because he was feeling doubt that he deserved it, and like he is a fraud as well as a failure," Namikaze nodded.

"There is a similarity in your thought processes." Sanbi seemed a little warmer.

'I don't see it.' 

"Another time, perhaps." The Sandaime was standing with his hands folded. "Please excuse me, Mizukage-sama. It seems that I have correspondence and other work to attend to. Unless you have further need of consultation, that is?"

She thought about it for a second. "I'm fine," Aiko said. She stood to bow. "Thank you for your time and this very timely meeting. I'll get that information about Orochimaru's bases to you by fax. I have a couple of errands to do first, but it should be relatively soon." She made eye contract. "I suppose it'll get to you around the time you send that transfer."

"I suppose it will," The Sandaime said, the ghost of amusement in his tone at her unsubtle ploy. "Namiikaze-sama, perhaps your work would best be completed in your office?"

Ah. That was a dismissal. 

'Can't very well linger in the Hokage's office if he's going to do errands.'

 And so the group dissipated, without the Konoha contingent saying much of value at all. Granted, they'd been surprised by the meeting so they hadn't come in with a strategy. They'd probably expected the meeting to go very differently.

Aiko followed her father to the corner office where he had apparently been banished. He bustled to his desk and set down the nice letterhead he had been writing on.

She stuck her hands in her pockets and scrutinized the office. It certainly didn't show a lot of signs of inhabitance. 

"How long do you have?" Minato asked.

"For you to write?" Aiko pursed her lips. "I'd hope you'd finish that within the hour."

"I meant before the Death God drags you back," Minato said absently. "He doesn't care for bending of the rules of life and death. Perversion and theft and all that. But that's good information, too." He pulled the cap off of his pen with his teeth and leaned forward to concentrate on the document.

.

.

.

He glanced up at her and let the pen cap fall to his desk. "Unless he has something else for you to do, I can't see why you'd linger for long. Once he's done sorting out what chaos Orochimaru left, he'll remember you." Then he shrugged. "But what do I know. I assume that the reason I'm still around is that you are. So I have a personal interest in this topic. But it's somewhat academic, since I'm not expecting to go back to where I have been."

There was something about the detached way he said that that made her flinch. 

Aiko opened her mouth to say, "I'm not dead," but she couldn't put the lie out into the air. So she just stared at him, feeling far closer to her father than she had ever expected to. Despair kept a tight knot around her heart. "I'm not ready to be dead," she said instead. 

"Accept it or fight it," Minato said. He blinked, and his blue eyes were the clearest she'd ever seen. "If you don't do something drastically different, your denials won't save you. Fighting it is probably futile, but if you're not ready to die with dignity..."

Her eyes were welling up. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Her heart was pounding. She wanted to clap her hands over her ears and scream. She wanted to run. She wanted to drown this feeling out with work or booze or sex or something, just anything that would make her feel something else or nothing.

"Well, I suppose you could throw yourself on another god's mercy," Minato said. He didn't seem to be giving the suggestion much weight. "Someone who has a vendetta against the death god, or someone who needs a living human ally."

...She thought about that. She really did. Her religious upbringing was haphazard at best, but she knew the major figures. The most powerful god she could think of who wasn't dead or sleeping... 

Oh. Oh. Maybe a powerful god who had been banished to the lands of the dead was her best bet. She, an undead human with the ability to bend time and space, and a foothold in both death and life.... She might seem useful to a goddess who had been trapped in death's kingdom since the making of the world. 

"Izanami?" Minato asked. Because of course he had already given this thought. "If anyone would be both powerful enough to be your patron and have a reason, I can't think of a better candidate. I'm not a priest by any means, you should probably consult religious scholars about this." He frowned. "Though I doubt they'll have much concrete to say. It's not a path often trod. I think they promote more acceptance of the essential rules of the cosmos there."

Aiko contemplated this in silence for a while. "This sounds like the beginning of a frantic, pathetic, and likely unsuccessful flight from death. And a lot of people are going to think I'm really weird and sad. It's going to really interfere with my paperwork time."

"Definitely," Minato agreed.

"I'd better get started."