Hinata sighed and stared at the stack of papers on her desk. She had never known that being the head of the family included so much desk work. How had her father managed  it?
There were official reports, but also the wages of the household staff, names and numbers of the Hyuuga family, scrolls with information about their legacy Byakugan. And the mark of the caged bird. That was one of the first things she had changed. No member of the Branch House would ever be forced to wear the mark again, unless they chose so themselves. It had caused too much strife in the past. She didn’t want her family to be divided anymore.
She had also found a copy of the marriage certificate of her father’s younger sister to the Fourth Kazekage, along with a letter from her aunt to her father. She wrote about how much she missed Konoha, but how the birth of her daughter had made her happy.
Hinata had put the letter aside. Perhaps Neji could send it to Taryn with his next letter. She was sure her cousin would like to read it.
Hinata bit her lip as she thought of Taryn. Even though she had forgiven her cousin for protecting Sasuke, it didn’t mean she liked it.

A knock on the door made her look up. “Hanabi? What is it?”
“Are you almost done?” her sister asked, “you’ve been in here all day.”
“I have work to do, Hanabi-chan.”
“No one expects you to be perfect, nee-san. And you don’t have to do everything on our own. Even father had assistants.”
“Neji is helping ne,” Hinata said, “when he’s not busy with his duties to the village.”
Hanabi sighed. For a shy girl, her sister sure was stubborn. “Come on,” she said, “let’s go eat something. I think I saw Naruto enter the ramen bar earlier.”
“N-naruto-kun?” Hinata stuttered and her cheeks turned red.
Hanabi smirked to herself. She had found the key to making her sister listen not long ago. It worked every time. “Yeah, “ she said, “but you’re busy, so…”
“I .. I can t-take a break,” Hinata said and put down the form she had been filling out. She pushed back her chair and headed to the door. “A-are you coming or not?”

***

“Hey, how did it go?” Daro and Hiro ran up to their friend excited.
Kuro smiled. “It was good. I’d never been to Kirigakure before. But I’m glad to be back home.”
He looked at Daro. “Tai told me to say hi.”
Daro blinked in surprise. “He remembers who I am?”
Kuro nodded. “How are things here?”
“Same as before,” Daro said, “Uchiha being a jerk, shinobi going in and out.”
“Do they know yet who it was that attacked sensei five months ago?”
Hiro shook his head. “Not yet. How about you? Did you hear something?”
“No,” Kuro said, “but there’s something else.” He had a concerned expression on his face. “I need to talk to Gaara-sama.”

***

Day 9 of the seventh month
First year of the Great Peace
From the Council of Iwagakure
To all the Great Nations

We regret to inform you that Oonoki, Third Tsuchikage, has passed away quietly three days ago. Hanade Tokari has been appointed Fourth Tsuchikage in his stead. Please be assured that the treaty will stay intact

***

“Is there really nothing else I can do?” Naruto complained.
Kakashi sighed frustrated. “you can assist the delegation that came from Kumo,” he said, “they’ll be staying for a while. I need someone to guide them to their apartments and escort them across town.”
“Aren’t we at peace?” Naruto questioned, “why do they need an escort?”
“Because they’re still shinobi from another nation,” Kakashi clarified. He didn’t want to tell the boy his ulterior motives, that they still didn’t know who had attacked Taryn and Sasuke. If he could find out even the smallest lead, he would use it.
Naruto sighed. “Fine, I’ll do it.” 
“Good,” Kakashi nodded, “take Sai with you.” The young ANBU member would know what to do and the two had become friends.
Naruto nodded. “Alright.” He looked at Kakashi hesitantly. “Have you heard from her yet?” 
Kakashi shook his head. “No. Nothing.” 
Naruto gave him a sad smile. “She’ll write,” he said, “she’s probably just busy, you know, with her baby and all.” 
Kakashi nodded. “Yes. Of course.” He gave Naruto an encouraging nod. He knew the boy was just trying to make him feel better. “You should go now.” 
Naruto nodded. “Okay.” He gave one last glance at his former sensei before walking out the door.

***

“Sweet dreams,” Taryn whispered and traced her son’s cheek with her index finger. He was growing so fast. The blue eyes had turned into Itachi’s onyx orbs. When he’d grow up, he would look just like his father, she was sure of it.

Taryn sighed and bit her lip. After all this time, she still missed him terribly.
Soundlessly she slipped out of the room and closed the door. It was still early evening, Sasuke was in his room, perhaps she could visit Itachi’s grave for a moment.
Suddenly her head snapped up. For a moment she had sensed something, but it was gone now.

She glanced around cautiously. No visitor would hide their presences unless they meant harm.
She knew better than to call out. She didn’t want her intruder to know she had found them out.
She casually moved to the kitchen counter and started putting things away while unobtrusively activating her Byakugan. Whoever it was, was hiding their presence well.
Her hand crawled across the counter until it reached a kitchen knife. In one swift movement, she hurled it across the room, It hit the back wall with a loud thud and stayed stuck in the wooden boards.

“And I was so sure I’d hidden my chakra completely.” The air swirled for a moment and a broad shinobi appeared in the living room. He smirked at her evilly.
“What do you want?” Taryn growled while carefully making sure she didn’t have any other unwelcome guests.
“Don’t worry, sugar. This doesn’t have to take long. Just hand over Uchiha. You’ve made your point. We went through war, now we’re at peace. There’s no need to him to live any longer.”
Taryn narrowed her eyes. “You’re not getting him.”
“Don’t be difficult,” the shinobi cooed, “think of your son.”
“Don’t threaten my child,” Taryn hissed through her teeth.
“I’m just stating a fact,” he shrugged.
“Get out of my house,” Taryn growled.
The shinobi narrowed his eyes. “I’m not leaving without Uchiha.” 
“Suit yourself,” Taryn hissed, “but I warned you.” She charged forward. The shinobi easily evaded her and chuckled. “It won’t be that easy, sugar. I know about Byakugan. I’ve encountered it before.” 
Taryn grinned and stopped at the opposite wall. “Who said I was going to use Byakugan?”  She tugged the knife from the wall. “Wind Style: Silver Wind.” She slashed the knife at him, sending a razor sharp wind jutsu at him. 
He ducked, but still took a few severe cuts. The rest of the hit was taken by several pieces of furniture.
The man glared at her, but then shifted his eyes to the side, to the bedroom door, and he smirked. He made a move towards the door, but was cut off by the knife Taryn had thrown at him. 
She used the second he needed to regain himself to form a few hand seals and vanish.
She reappeared behind him and slammed her flat hand against his back.
The shinobi groaned and whirled around. He grabbed her and slammed her against the wall.
In the bedroom, Ichiru started crying.
Taryn gritted her teeth and kneed her attacker. He let go of her and she kicked him backwards.
He came to a halt on the other side of the room. He lifted his hands and formed a series of hand seals. “Lightning Style: Electronic Current!” 
‘Wind Style: Vortex!” Taryn countered the attack, but was still thrown off her feet. She gasped for breath when the jutsu hit her shoulder.
“Don’t be stubborn, sugar. Just give up Uchiha Sasuke. What is he to you anyway?”
“That’s not the issue here,” Taryn said while crawling to her feet, “I won’t let you get him.” 
The shinobi shrugged. “I admire your determination, but I have orders.” 
“From who? Who sent you?” 
“That’s not important.” 
Ichiru cried even harder and Taryn glanced at the door. She wanted to comfort him, make sure he was safe, but she couldn’t go to him until she had gotten rid of this enemy. She cried in pain when a shuriken embedded itself in her right leg.
“Stay focused sugar.” 

The door to the hallway opened and Sasuke stepped in the room. He looked at Taryn and then at the intruder. He narrowed his eyes. “Who are you and what do you want?”
The shinobi grinned and ran at Sasuke.
Taryn bit her lip and plucked the shuriken from her leg. She threw it at the intruder.
He turned and countered it with a kunai dagger.
With a smirk he turned back to Sasuke, who ducked his fist at the last moment.
“Sasuke!” Taryn called, “take Ichiru and get away!” 
“You’re not going anywhere!” the shinobi yelled. He threw a punch at Sasuke again, who dodged did a back spring and a leg swipe. 
The man narrowed his eyes. “Impossible,” he said, “you shouldn’t be able to dodge that.” He narrowed his eyes and made a single hand seal. “When?” he gasped. He glared at Taryn. “What did you do?! You treacherous bitch! You undid the seal!” 

Sasuke’s eyes went wide and he stared at his hands.
Taryn raced towards their attacker. Quicker than the eye could see, she shut down all his chakra channels. The man slumped to the floor and glared at her. “You’ll pay for this, Desertstorm.”
Taryn gritted her teeth and made a final hit to his chest, knowing it would shut down his heart. “I don’t think so,” she hissed as his body slumped to the floor and remained motionless.
Taryn gasped and fell to her knees. She leaned back against the counter and closed her eyes. 

Sasuke looked down at the shinobi and then at Taryn. When Ichiru continued to cry and it didn’t seem like Taryn was going to move any time soon, he walked into the bedroom to check on his nephew.
After he had calmed the boy down, he returned to the living room where Taryn was crouched over the shinobi’s body. “What did he want?”
Taryn didn’t look up. “You.”
Sasuke stared at her for a moment and wondered why she was still protecting him.

Taryn had turned over the body and was searching it for clues. He wasn’t wearing a headband, just like the others before him. So she wasn’t sure who had sent him. She ruled out Konoha and Iron. The man had obviously been a shinobi, so it wasn’t Mifune that had sent him. ‘I had to kill him. He was a sensor type. He figured it out. I couldn’t take the risk of him getting away and informing other nations.’ If they knew…
“Go to the tower and get my brother,” Taryn said.
Sasuke looked at her annoyed. She was ordering him around now?
Taryn narrowed her eyes. “Now Sasuke, before whoever sent him finds out he failed.” 
Sasuke gritted his teeth. As much as he hated it, she was right. Besides, he had threatened Ichiru too.
He walked towards the door when  Taryn’s voice stopped him. “Sasuke…” 
He paused.
“There might be more.” 
Sasuke nodded and rushed down the street.

***

“You don’t trust them  either, do you?” Shikaku gave Kakashi a concerned look.
“I don’t know,” Kakashi answered, “alliances have always been fragile. Even now, after we’ve been through war, I’ve seen it before, and so have you. As soon as things go back to normal, it won’t be long before we turn against each other again. It’s how a shinobi village thrives after all. We rely on clients and their paycheck. Surrounding nations won’t care about treaties. They’re paying us to do our job, regardless of who the enemy might be.”
“Then what are they here for?”
Kakashi sighed. “I don’t know. That’s why I asked Naruto to escort them, but they may be looking for Sasuke Uchiha.”
“But he’s in Suna. Everyone heard the council’s decision.”
“And everyone knows how tight the ties have been between Konoha and Suna. Especially where Taryn’s involved.”
“You think Kumo believes we might be hiding him?”
“Or both of them. They were attacked on their way to Suna after all.”
Shikaku sighed. “So much for peace.”

***

“Do you know him?” Taryn asked, “he wasn’t wearing any symbol.”
Gaara sighed. “I don’t know. I’m suspecting either Iwa or Kiri.”
“Kiri?” Taryn questioned, “the Mist is the last I would suspect. The Mizukage’s been working real hard to gain the trust of the other nations after what happened with Zabuza and the last Mizukage.”
“That’s exactly why they should be on top of your list,” Gaara sighed. He paused for a moment. “It’s a shame you killed him,” he said casually, “we could have questioned him.”
When Taryn didn’t respond, he sighed again and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Did you think I wouldn’t notice, Taryn? Tell me you didn’t break the seal.”
“I didn’t break the seal,” Taryn replied. She was watching Kuro, who was holding Ichiru. Her student happened to have been in Gaara’s office when Sasuke came in, reporting his stay in Kirigakure.
Her other two students had stayed behind in Gaara’s office, along with Sasuke who had been ordered to wait there.
“Then why is Sasuke emitting chakra?”
“It’s only a little,” Taryn said, “he wouldn’t even have realized if that sensor hadn’t said anything.”
Gaara shook his head. “I should have known there was more to it than a simple refugee.”
“It’s harmless, I promise,” Taryn said.
Behind Gaara, Baki muttered something under his breath while continuing to examine the shinobi.
“Why Iwa?” Taryn asked.
“Hm?” Gaara said.
“You said you suspected Iwa or Kiri. Why Iwa?”
“The old Tsuchikage passed away,” Gaara told her, “I just received the news. His successor might not agree with the decisions that were made regarding Sasuke. He might have sent an assassin. And Kiri…”  Gaara paused, “Taryn, there’s something you should know. When Kuro was in the hidden Mist, he heard some disturbing news.” He looked at his sister. “It seems the criminal Suigetsu Houzuki has escaped.” 

---

A/N dun dun dun