Summary: After a rough night, leading up to a marriage, Uchiha Sasuke meets the rest of this hidden, altruistic group of Uchiha who claim to have a birthright in Konoha. What once was a blessing quickly becomes a curse. [SasukexHinata] Sasuhina. 2/3 Book 2 of the Sweet Dispositions series.

Pairings: Sasuke/Hinata, Naruto/Sakura, OC/Kabuto, Konohamaru/Hanabi, Kakashi/Kurenai, Temari/Sasuke/Shikamaru, Karin/Suigetsu

A/N- Sooorry for not putting this up earlier. Hello, my dear readers. I heavily recommend reading Sweet Dispositions I: Kumogakure before giving this a go. Sweet Dispositions: Uchihagakure is the second book and it is a good informational tool as to why the characters act the way they do. If you choose not to read it, then I shall give a little rundown about each problem we encounter.

If you don't want to read Sweet Dispositions: Kumogakure, here's a rundown;

Sasuke gets Hinata pregnant at a bar when Hinata is meant to be in an arranged marriage. She is expected to be sealed and married off to a branch member of the Hyuuga family. To escape judgment and being sealed, Hinata and Sasuke to Kumo for a year to protect their baby.

The Raikage/government of Kumo knows not of where they live. Hinata adopts Benjiro and births twins while living with Miyana, Mitsuyo, Someina and Taiyo. She gets the power to control metal and the Chidori and learns of the Uchiha.

A threat called the DCA fakes Hinata's death and creates two clones of Hinata. One clone is brutally murdered and the other flees, to Kami knows where.

Jugo goes on a rampage to destroy Kumo and the government knows where the Uchiha clan lives. For the next three years, Miyana is missing and Hinata is forced to stay in Kumo while taking care of the abandoned Taiyo. Her twins, Benjiro and Sasuke share the same fate as well.

Hinata finds out about the cover-up of her death and travels back to Konoha when the DCA (Death Chess Association) and their pawns burn down Sasuke's and Hinata's house. They return to Konoha, Sasuke fights Naruto for a while and struggles to find other Uchiha that Miyana supposedly hunted.

Hinata gets kidnapped by the DCA, a war is started but Hinata is captured for 6 weeks. Forever scarred and eager to escape, Hinata manipulates a pawn named Tommy, forgives Kabuto for killing Benjiro's biological mother and starting the fourth shinobi war to get the keys. She gets to kill Reize, take Akuma-oo-sama's sharingan and reunite with her kids just before Benjiro's ninth birthday with her.

And yeah, enjoy.

DISCLAIMER- I DON'T OWN NARUTO. MANGA DRAWING IS TOO MUCH WORK. <(=~=)> I'M SLEEP DEPRIVED ENOUGH AS IT IS.

Sorry if this is short but luck, we gotta start somewhere.

§§§

Book 2

Sweet Dispositions II:
Uchihagakure

-Chapter 1-
What Isn't

SASUKE DIDN'T MEAN TO LEAVE HINATA BUT THE WEDDING SUFFOCATED HIM.

But the offer was too sweet to give up. And Hinata didn't really want him around, so why not? Why not just leave to fulfill the future generation's wishes and grasp what he's wanted since he was eight?

He could restore his clan, renew his bloodline and relive the memories he needed.

He wanted this.

§§§

One month earlier. December 1st.

Mitsuyo came into the hospital room to find Sasuke and Mitsuki at each other's throats. Mitsuki immediately ran to Mitsuyo and hid behind her. Mitsuyo ignored how Mitsuki clutched her robes with a standard hiss. He wouldn't let go anyway. This child was a nuisance. She didn't think that about all kids. Just this one. 

Mitsuyo didn't want to care for Mitsuki. Her reluctance was more fear than actual distaste. This child trusted her for some inane reason. This was messed up! Mitsuyo killed his mother and slept with his father and uncle. She couldn't do any good for this young thing. It made a band of guilt tighten around her chest.

Ever since Shigeko put that genjutsu on her son, Mitsuki had absolutely forgotten what it meant to have such an erring mother. Or rather, a mother in general. Mitsuki had been attached to Mitsuyo in Shigeko's stead.

That scared Mitsuyo. A lot. Mitsuyo failed her own kids, Kaito and Kokoro, until these last two months when the real effort for renewing their lost time had been made. They do treat her like a nosy aunt rather than a mother and Kaito still doesn't want Mitsuyo seeing his wife Suedo Charis or... Uchiha Charis now or something.

Sasuke didn't like the idea of Shigeko's kid being there. He wasn't known for being the wind and sway and one to forget anything. 

Sasuke had an obvious hatred for Shigeko as she kidnapped kids and adults alike for Orochimaru to experiment on for a living. Shigeko also worked with Akuma-oo-sama to complete the malevolent task of killing Uchiha. Cough, cough, assassinations of Sasuke's blood and pride. Shigeko was the one who made the only poison that could affect Sasuke; Blood Pressure.

The woman Shigeko had a long resume and all of her jobs were messy and vile. Even Mitsuyo couldn't deny Shigeko's skills. She was a dangerous woman with a dangerous child-- that they're stuck with! 

Mitsuyo couldn't have told Mitsuki the truth about the genjutsu placed on him. Despite the fact Miyana never trained her sharingan, it was strong nonetheless. Mitsuyo was always careful with her memories around the sneaky nightmare of a woman. Miyana's genjutsu erased people's memories or shuttled through them, replacing important memories with phony, everyday life ones.

Miyana's genjutsu seamlessly fit into the psyche. Miyana had a lifetime of sporadic practice, Shigeko was subpar in her trysts. There might be a side-effect and the genjutsu will slowly eat Mitsuki's brain and memories away until he is but a shell of his former self.

Mitsuyo didn't know if Shigeko was better or worse than Miyana. She didn't know if there was any way to lift the genjutsu anyway. Sasuke only worked on inflicting pain on others with his genjutsu, not relieving it.

Sasuke crouched and stared at Mitsuki. Mitsuki's brilliant yellow eyes could be compared to a viper's. They were glassy and unfeeling and cold. He had the eyes of a killer. An arrogant one at that, too.It's ironic that his hair is so white and he has those sunshine white eyes. Purity and sustenance showed on his face but he was an assassin, too.

However, Mitsuki stood behind Mitsuyo like an attached shadow, like she was safe.

She suspected Sasuke needed to check Mitsuki's chakra pathway. And whether or not Mitsuki's chakra flow is directed to his brain, to feed the genjutsu. Mitsuki probably didn't let Sasuke. At all.

"So..." Sasuke swallowed carefully. "Why does he like you?" he cocked his head to the side, like some stupid pigeon.  

Mitsuyo knocked Sasuke's temple, knocking his head back into place. "Be nice, birdie."  

Sasuke hissed at her, slight amusement rippling through his features. "Quit that." 

"Don't say dumb things, bozu." she glared at him.  

"Oi! It's a valid question when you go round knocking people on their heads, hag." Suigetsu, over in the far corner, intoned in all his useless glory.

His sword was upright proudly, beaming with reverence and bloodlust beside him. Suigetsu just stood there, squirting water into his mouth with a wolf-life snark on his lips. He was melting into a puddle in this unnecessary sauna. 

"Why are you here, Twinkle Toes?" Mitsuyo pinned him with a smirk. "You are simply wasting oxygen with your heavy mouth breathing."

Suigetsu took time off from Jugo's and Karin's company to stand like a grumpy owl. Suigetsu was always cranky in hot weather. He needed to be hydrated and Suna was too hot for his own good. However, his wife loved the spot and decided to live out the rest of their days here. So, he was annoyed with arguments with the redhead and insults blowing in from Mitsuyo, too.

Fury was in Suiugetsu's bark. "Oi! Kameya broke my nose the other day, alright? It's mostly fixed but it still hurts. And it's better to walk down the dark with a friend rather than be alone in the light." Suigetsu nodded surely.

"Huh? You wanted to support Sasuke and I?" Mitsuyo lifted a brow. 

"Why's that so hard to believe? I came here for support. Support. Sasuke wanted to know something and you don't get to ruin my day with your comments."

"What would you come to do, enlighten us with your boundless knowledge, he who thought that the sun revolved around the earth?" Mitsuyo rolled her eyes.

"Cut that shit out! Karin told me-"

"Ah. The mistress of yours isn't much smarter than you!" Mitsuyo hissed, her voice rising in volume. "As outsiders, what do you think of the human race with talent and smarts?"

Behind Mitsuyo, Mitsuki jumped when Sasuke leaned forward in his crouched position. Mitsuki shrunk closer to Mitsuyo's robes, glaring at both Sasuke and Suigetsu with extreme caution.

Why was the boy standing so closely? 

"Was he like this with Shigeko?" Sasuke questioned lightly to all three of the adults.

"I don't know. How am I supposed to know?" Suigetsu grumped impatiently.

"Oh. A book could be filled with what you don't know," quipped Mitsuyo.

"Say one more thing about and you never know-"

"Wrong! You never know. Anything!" Mitsuyo yelled.  

"Shut up, maybe I'll just piss in your curtains again!" Suigetsu growled.  

"Again?!" Mitsuyo clenched her fists. He pissed in her curtains?! Seriously? Her hands had flames and she needed to burn him, burn the world, and everyone else! "I'll burn you!" 

Suigetsu got his sword. "You can't burn greatness or victory, hag," he whispers loudly. "I'll cut you, and I'll drink about it. Say cheers, witch."

"Oh yeah, you sure that you're the right mental age to drink?" Mitsuyo demanded. 

"You bit-"     

"Shut up, both of you! You both are annoying, alright?" Sasuke looked at them with a withering grimace. His eyes settled on Mitsuki. "Why's Mitsuki acting like this?"

"He's scared?" shrugged Suigetsu.

The boy practically cringed away from every single one of Sasuke's searching glances.

Sasuke looked pensive and calculating as if he were putting together a puzzle. His fluidity and precision scared most. He also had the nobility of an Uchiha, the weapon mastery level of a fellow god and the aura that definitively broke people's will to defy him. Face it, Sasuke was a scary figure. In his off moods, even Mitsuyo was scared to approach the lad.

"Sasuke..." Mitsuyo laughed a little. "You aren't the... uh, most approachable..."

Sasuke scowled. "Why would I want to be approached?"

His tone reminded her of sour lemons drenched in tart pomegranates.

Mitsuyo sighed and hit his temple again. Lightly. "You are dim. Don't make me knock sense into you."

Sasuke recovered and gnarled his teeth. "I'll hit you back, Mitsuyo."

Instantly, a blade was pointed to Sasuke's throat. It was wicked fast. Under Mitsuki's blue sleeve was his weapon Mitsuyo hadn't yet confiscated. She needed him without instruments of death around these exceedingly annoying young men. He must have snuck that last blade before she took them all.

Sneaky.

Sasuke's angry chakra surged, muscles twanging with the force of wanting to exterminate any feasible threat. He had the skills of a honed killer and a merciless asshole.

Mitsuki let out the bland insult; "Touch her and you die," and twisted the tip of his knife into Sasuke's jugular vein.

The blade wasn't dug in further. It couldn't have. The blade was sandwiched between Sasuke's index and middle finger.

Sasuke blinked at the boy whose eyes were devoid of anything. "Hn. Falling from the dove to the dark of the crow, boy?"

They stared at each other, locked in this odd aggression. Mitsuyo didn't like the way they looked at each other- like sharks ready to tear their opponent apart in the jaws of their jutsu.

"Stop!" Mitsuyo said to Sasuke.

None of them budged. 

Mitsuki narrowed his sunny eyes. "Die, Uchiha. I poisoned the blade. The poison takes effect immediately and it attacks the nervous system. Why won't you die?"

"Sorry kid, I'm immune to all of your petty poisons," he whispered. He looked down. "All blades are dull against Uchiha. Would you mind taking your other one back?"

Mitsuki withdrew his sword pointed to Sasuke's gut as well. "Why didn't my swords wound you? Why is that possible?"

"It is a luxury of my bloodline." Sasuke gave a sweet, debonair smirk.

"You hurt Hinata. None of your blood will be carried any time soon."

Mitsuyo face-palmed. Even the child could sense just how much Hinata was unimpressed with Sasuke at the moment.

Sasuke's sharingan blazed for a moment before he sighed. "Little crow, watch it," Sasuke whispered lightly.

"Why'd you want to see Mitsuki anyway?" Suigetsu asked Sasuke. "The kid's exactly like this father!"

"Quiet you!" Mitsuki threw seven blades at Suigetsu who dodged them all. "I don't have a father!" 

Suigetsu just stared at the wall and the multiple blades that nearly struck him. "That..."

"Yeah." Mitsuyo finished.

Mitsuyo felt the sting of pain. Another side effect of Shigeko's genjutsu; Mitsuki forgetting of Orochimaru; his father. It was better off not knowing of the snake-like fiend. She still couldn't believe that all of his memories were stolen. Gone.

Mitsuyo sighed. "Now, now, how about we... don't fight. I'd like to leave Twinkle Toes alive this coming season."

"What? How would I die in this situation?" Suigetsu asked.

"You are the weakest soul in the confines of these walls," Mitsuyo said with a coy smile. "You would die first, ne, Hozuki? You know, you're too dumb to stay alive."

"Really?"

"If we take off the labels on things, you surely would perish." 

Suigetsu and Mitsuyo were on the edge of a fight.

Suigetsu screamed, "I have my sword! I am not weak."

Mitsuyo tilted her head. Suigetsu's treasured sword had the equivalent strength of a sewing needle near Sasuke yet he insists on hulking that load of steel everywhere. Sasuke suddenly threw the blade at the wall, startling Suigetsu.

"Koza," Sasuke said loudly. "A word."

Ah. Mitsuyo knew a lecture would come on since he was using his domineering tone. His ability to instill control in others surprised her at times. Sometimes, it was welcomed but now it was annoying. 

She couldn't help but swallow her annoyance. The boy jostled like a dancing firecracker. Mitsuyo looked down at the boy. "What, boya?"

"Hey, I thought we were going to see Uncle Kabuto. He's expecting us..." Mitsuki said, desperation making his voice thick and sad.

"We don't always get what we want," Mitsuyo said slowly. "He mustn't see you until Ibiki is finished talking to him."

"Oh." he deflated. "Yeah."

She stood there, looking at the upset child. He steeled himself and his emotions melted away into this indifference he learned. Seeing Mitsuki like this was terrible in flavour. She hoped he had an easier life... away from her.

Mitsuyo looked at Suigetsu after a long pause fell over the room. "Don't touch him or I'll scrape out your eyes," Mitsuyo whispered. 

"Good. I don't want to look at you anyway." Suigetsu rolled his eyes.

Suigetsu understood the magnitude of this situation. Mitsuki was still a child; he wasn't aware of most things but he was dangerous. No matter how much she pressed Suigetsu's buttons, the boy was strong with that sword. Stupid, yes, but strong. 

Mitsuyo surveyed the room they stood in. It was a plain hospital room with a bed, heart monitor, sink and other simple tools needed to resuscitate and heal. It was small and Mitsuki wasn't the easiest of... people. The confines of the space and the already irritated Suigetsu wasn't a good combination.

"Do it." Mitsuyo snapped. "Don't hurt him or I'll hurt you, got it?"

They glared at each other for a few moments and Suigetsu raised his hands in a gesture of appeasement. "Fine. He's safe or whatever."

Mitsuyo nodded slowly. She couldn't return the child to Kabuto when he got out of prison bruised and sliced up.

She just was turning on her heel but Mitsuki grasped her wrist. "I don't want to stay with him! He's drunken six bottles of water and he hasn't gone to the bathroom." Mitsuki whispered and he leaned in closer. "He isn't human."

She ripped her arm away. "Just bear it," Mitsuyo said sharply. She couldn't have time for this.

Mitsuki frowned but did as she said. Mitsuyo gave one last warning look to Suigetsu. Sasuke called out for her again.

"Alright, Yashagorō 2.0, I evaporate in this weather. I need to hydrate. Water is my blood- more than you..." Suigetsu started lecturing the boy.

This was madness! Why... Why was she responsible for this child?! 

Mitsuyo closed the door. The moment she stepped out of the room, she noticed the wall of heat that pressed into her.  

Sasuke stared at her impassively. He was taller than ever but his aura of intense disappointment was larger than he could ever be.

"What were you doing?" Mitsuyo asked, straight to the point.

Quirking a lip up, he tilted his head. "You know I wouldn't hurt him."

"You would. You completely would." Mitsuyo reasoned.

"I harbour no ill will against him." Sasuke testified.

"How many lies do you have to tell before you mean well? You can't hate the child!"

"Mitsuyo, I wouldn't... hate him."

Mitsuyo rolled her eyes. "What about with Taiyo? You discover he's an Uchiha, that my sister is a traitorous bitch and you locked him out, almost as if you never met him! That child looked up to you."

"I admit it wasn't the most mature but I was processing the information given to me!" Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Looking at him was like looking at lies that you told."

"Looking at Mitsuki and channelling this hatred for your former sensei isn't the way to go about it. He is not Orochimaru!" Mitsuyo rolled her eyes. "Let go of that." 

"Orochimaru gained immortality through watching others die! He already owns a couple of centuries in his flesh." Sasuke gritted out. "You'd tell me with a straight face that none of Mitsuki's genes are tainted with malice and destruction?"

"He wasn't raised by Orochimaru!" Mitsuki snapped.

"Was being in the DCA any better?" Sasuke countered. "You can't deny his chakra signature."

"What about you, huh?" Mitsuyo said thoughtfully. "You are like him, deadly, small, eight, defenceless without family or friends, but you had a bloodline everyone thought was... evil. They couldn't deny your chakra signature."    

Sasuke looked taken aback by this. "It's not the same." 

"You want to tell me that your children, your blood, will be bad? You are not a monster. He isn't a monster either." Mitsuyo finished with a loud huff. "Have some sense, yeah? We're already thinking enough between the two of us for Twinkle Toes."  

Sasuke just didn't seem convinced and she just let it drop. It was easier to burn the artic than to change his mind. Why couldn't he just stop being so damned stubborn?

"I take you were trying to grasp how much the genjutsu is influencing Mitsuki's actions." Mitsuyo changed the subject.

"More or less." Sasuke rocked on his heel. 

"Sasuke, what am I going to do with you?" Mitsuyo rubbed her forehead.

"Kill me," he was serious, then he graced the December heat with a smirk. It was its fortune to see it.     

Urghhh. He's so annoying! And childish. She groaned even louder, ignoring his smirk. "How is the kid's psyche?" Mitsuyo swallowed.

"I don't know... He wouldn't let me inspect him before you showed up." Sasuke scoffed. 

"Why would he have any reason to trust you?" Mitsuyo asked softly.

"He seems to trust you easily. That makes him foolish." Sasuke quirked his lips down into an analytical frown. 

That makes him a child. He isn't going to be on the mend any time soon. Mitsuyo leaned against the door, brushing her hair away from her neck. It was too hot in this yukata to have long, black hair. 

"That kid will die. Not by my hands but by a child who hates arrogance." Sasuke seethed.

"Do you know how much Mitsuki reminds me of you?" Mitsuyo smiled. That sets a deep ache in her stomach that she doesn't know how to dislodge. 

"Then that child will be exterminated," he said loudly. 

You're still here, right?  Mitsuyo echoed in her brain. He'll last, just like how I let you keep all you steal and I... I'll keep you safe.  

"I just want you to return his memories. You didn't have to insult him or scare him as you did." Mitsuyo finished with a huff. She settled against the wall, beside him. 

"This is like Benjiro all over again." Sasuke sighed, his face pinched in annoyance.

"No, it isn't. I don't want to be responsible for either Kabuto or Mitsuki. They aren't meant to be around someone like me. I don't know why he likes me so much!" 

Sasuke knocked her on the head and shifted back to lean on the wall. "Kabuto still is in jail and you're the only one the gaki attached to. That means you have to control the killing machine that kid is, alright. It's only been three days but he has already killed two people... Two. Watch him better. Don't let him out of your sight."

"Sasuke! Do you remember how he isn't my child? I have my own life. I have things to do."

"You're the only one who stops him from killing. Tame him. For now."

"I'm not his caretaker. I killed his mother!" Mitsuyo yelled in a whisper. Was Sasuke dim?

"He got out of custody just yesterday but now he's trouble. Big trouble. You felt it, yeah?"

Mitsuyo looked down. She could feel the tremendous killing intent coming from the child. "Yeah."

"Mitsuki doesn't want to stay with the kids or Hinata... Hinata..." he paused. Her name sounded like a breath of air but now it choked him up. Ever since the big return, Hinata had avoided Sasuke.

"And what about Hinata?" Mitsuyo said slowly, watching him carefully.

"I don't want to talk about it, alright?" Sasuke's eyes hardened, looking forward. 

With her chakra enhanced hearing, she basically reached out to his chest. It beat, restless and turbulent, and she shook her head.  He's freaking out out this. And he won't say anything. His heart acknowledged the problem but not his stupid brain. Stupid Sasuke. Ah. He'll come to talking eventually. He always does.

She bumped his hip with hers. "Even so, you could tell me." 

He gave her a glare.

"When you want to..." Mitsuyo said, backing down.

Oh. He gave a scoff and a glare. Double trouble. "Just uphold your end of the bargain, alright?" he finished.

They rested against the wall, hip barely brushing hip when he gave her a side glance. Sasuke huffed out a breath as if she was being troublesome.  

"Gladly. I want Mitsuki out of my life and out of that Eel Kabuto, too." Mitsuyo said, anger spiking through her. "If so, then we put them together and they stay far, far away."

"I have it under control," Sasuke said sternly. Calculations and dissatisfaction materialized in his glance. "Are you sure we need to let him go like this?" he tilted his head again. 

Mitsuyo sighed. "Don't look at me like that! We aren't able to support Mitsuki right now, okay? Kabuto is the surrogate father. They will return to Otogakure, where they will stay and never come back." Mitsuyo said loudly. 

"That's the plan, eh?" Sasuke nodded his head to himself. "Wouldn't it be nice to have him close, for observation? Both Kabuto and Mitsuki are chaotic when left unattended."

"Let Konoha deal with that! It's not our problem." Mitsuyo waved away his suggestion. 

"I have that under control. Uchiha were the police, after all." he offered a wry smile.  

Oh. That does it.

"What? Admit it, we're too unstable as Uchiha to do anything. Kaito's wife hates me, Kokoro isn't doing anything but crying all the time, the kids grieve over the Raikage and Someina. You have the Uchiha district to worry about and I have Kabuto to worry about. Konoha hates us because of your lightning show! And Hinata can barely say two words to your face! How do you have it under control?" Mitsuyo demanded. 

Sasuke growled lightly. "All in all, we're okay."

"Ah. Denial. Such a powerful human tool." Mitsuyo snorted.  

"It isn't what I'm doing. I'm fixing stuff."

"Okay? Is this what control looks like, huh? Then you'd better be ready for the time when you lose control!" Mitsuyo huffed.

Sasuke gave an indifferent look. "I have it under control." he repeated firmly. 

Mitsuyo turned around and went back into the room. Her face felt hot and her stomach rolled. It wasn't fair to explode on Sasuke. Jolting to be alert, Mitsuki all but ran to her side. 

Suigetsu stared at her. "You okay?"

Mitsuyo ignored the kid's question. "Stay here and let Sasuke inspect your mind."

Mitsuki froze. "Stay here? Where are you going?"

"I'll go see what is up with the Eel, alright?"

"Eel?" Mitsuki's face dropped. "I thought you'd stop calling him that."

"Never will I stop calling that Eel what he is. You best accept that." Mitsuyo bristled. "He doesn't have any respect from my side, alright?"

Although he didn't agree, Mitsuki kept quiet as he nodded.

"Harsh. Why do you have to be a mean old bat?" Suigetsu demanded.

Mitsuyo silenced him with a glare. "Not now, idiot."

Mitsuyo left, heart aching and mind on fire.

§§§

"You came," Kabuto smiled.

His eyes. They were dark abysses filled with monstrously cold and brutal things. But when he quirked the edges up of his lips and showed her his animal fangs, her heart softened to whatever harsh snarl he had to say. Mitsuyo was shocked that after the tragic events of the DCA war or the Demon Wars as the tabloids viciously called it, the savage could wear a sneering smile.

"I wanted to know when your execution was," Mitsuyo said, loud and confident though she felt anything but.

Truth was, she wanted to see him. Believe he hadn't perished in the arms of evil. His angular face pulled odd shards of grief and joy up and out of her ribs. However, she needed to know whether or not he would make Mitsuki fall into his lap.

"I'm not  dead, yet," Kabuto whispered as a promise. Kabuto was bound in fuinjutsu and a glass wall divided them. He was being interrogated but there was a small break at noon since he needed a rest from the vigorous mind-searching.

"Dead, huh? Not yet, at least. Why do you think there are these glass walls still in between us?" Mitsuyo shifted her chakra into her palms and banged on the glass door. Her flames were extinguished with a sad, sad sigh. 

"You can retrain your killing urges for me, Kozakura," Kabuto rolled his eyes.

Why was everything some sick joke to this clown?! Excuse her, snake. "You caused a war. You bastard. You are a psychopathic, sadistic, asshole-"

"Don't compliment me too much. I'm already blushing." Kabuto said sweetly.

"You look like a snake." Mitsuyo retorted. 

"You didn't mind the last time. After all these years, I can make you flustered. It brings me back," he laughed.

"Tell me what's your little plan and tell me what happened to Hinata in that DCA base!" Mitsuyo demanded. 

Ignoring her, he said, "You look good."

"I know that," Mitsuyo snapped. "What have you done to Hinata? Why do you have a second boy with you? The orphan?"

Kabuto's eyes darkened. "You killed his mother. You left him an orphan. I raised him for five years, though. I saved him." he showed his fangs. "I saved him!"

Mitsuyo let out a loud laugh. "Did you really? You groomed him into a killer. He is vicious! That isn't being a saviour!"

He looked down, also with a cold, cold laugh. "You don't know what it takes to survive in hell," he whispered.

"Yes I do," Mitsuyo narrowed her eyes, her wrists shaking from the effort of not striking him. "You put me through it. You put me through it all for your sick amusement because of Orochimaru. My suffering was your hobby."

"We share the same hobbies. You see me suffering and like it."

"That's because you did some terrible things! Starting a war, becoming "Orochimaru", killing Niko- Benjiro's mother, and releasing a chakra plague, what the hell?! I used to look at you and smile when I was angry at humanity because you were hope. Now you've become my enemy."

"Enemy? It's not like you were a ray of sunshine, either." he paused with a practiced smiled within his ever calculated actions. "Remember Touma and the villa-"

Mitsuyo stiffened, cold replacing her blood and her arms trembled. "Never speak of him." she cut him off.

He smiled casually as if he had done nothing wrong. "See. My kind's your kind."

"Fuck you!" Mitsuyo stiffened at the familiar, beloved line he repeated back to her. "At least I do good things now, alright! I made a family, a damn good one, and you won't ever hurt Sasuke or Hinata or their precious kids. I will kill you myself."

They paused in his long silence. He sighed. "Hate me but I'll get you back. My word is my bond. What the soul does, the body forgives."

"I hate you," Mitsuyo smiled. "That won't stop."

"Hate me but first, get me hemp. It's a loose fabric. It would make me feel the wind. The sunlight's allure." he sighed.

"I hope the snowy winds freeze your balls and they fall off." she looked away.  

Silence. His gaze slid through the room around her. "Is it too late to make you mine?" he queried, quite concerned with her supposed answer.

"Even if you were a prince and I were a princess, I would slay you because you are a dragon."

"Kozakura... I need you to be strong."

"Strong? I can beat you up and put you in an eel soup," Mitsuyo laughed.

"I hate eels."

"I know," Mitsuyo rolled her eyes.

"You remembered..."

"That's why I specifically told the cooks to make you eel soup for dinner. Every. Single. Day."

"Ah. I knew that too," Kabuto sighed. "You have a strong figure, a strong chakra quantity and strong jutsu. We are strong, though. As a country, as a people, as a family." Kabuto rambled, impassioned for some sick reason.

"We are strong. You are concerning yourself with what isn't," Mitsuyo rolled her eyes. "What about it?"

"We are strong, you say? Then how did we almost lose everything?"

"How could you forget that you are the very source of all that ruined, fallen state?"

Mitsuyo ground her teeth and punched the glass wall. All of her strength and training went into punching it. Went into destroying the stupidity of that man. And just like that, a bunch of shinobi swarmed the large room.

Everyone in the premises grabbed a part of her with a seal beneath her feet and someone who could conjure chains restraining her arms and her middle. It was the most annoying thing when she personally got escorted and Kabuto was left standing, staring at the curves and swirls of the fuinjutsu seal activated.

Drips of fear dropped onto his blasé expression for the first time. He looked more concerned for himself rather than those he harmed. It was disgusting.

Five minutes later, Mitsuyo sat in front of a man by the name of Ibiki. Mitsuyo and Ibiki got along. He tortured living people for a living and Mitsuyo did that for fun, so they got along. Kind of.

She still wouldn't let his shinobi, his men, in the interrogation-nin section of Konoha restrain her when she wasn't the obvious danger.

Mitsuyo sat in a chair and he was standing, buff and brawny around her. Authority and strict rules swarmed his aura as bees did for a hive. It was hard to be brave in front of a man with bulging muscles and powerful jutsu.

He was said to have scars all over his head because he never gave information up. He was almost as secretive as Sasuke. His stern expression sized her up and his forehead protector glinted.

Mitsuyo swallowed uncertainly. She didn't want him to have his paws in her mind. His straight line for a mouth told her to tread lightly and do no harm.

However, Mitsuyo was still annoyed and Ibiki was just another annoying bug. Ibiki also stared her down like he was supposed to be intimidating. He was but no one could walk all over her like that and get away with it!

She was tall herself but she wouldn't allow this nonsense to continue. Shifting in her chains, Mitsuyo shot to her feet and offered the interrogator a withering glare of her own.

"Why was I being restrained?! You must understand that I am not a threat here. It is he, the man who indeed lost his mind and is a literal eel!" Mitsuyo shouted.

Ibiki, a bald man in his early forties, sighed like a moody teenager. His crossed arms tightened. Twitched, as if he wanted to hit her.

He has an authoritative figure in that black bandana, trench coat and rubber boots that added to his maddening height.

He laughed sardonically and his voice was like sandpaper and resolve grinding together. It made for a deep, imposing voice. He was using his "talking to a criminal voice." Mitsuyo was a criminal but not in the wrong here.

"Uchiha Mitsuyo, you must understand that you could have risked freeing Kabuto in your fit of rage, right? You didn't mean to undermine both Konoha's and Suna's government and security teams. You were about to kill our subject that is a gold mine of information." Ibiki informed her.

"He deserves to die!" Mitsuyo snarled. "You're killing the justice, officer!"

Ibiki shrugged. "He is a public hazard but you cannot kill him. The only reliable source of information comes in bits and shards due to the broken nature everyone from that hell harbours. All those that we have investigated haven't been at the source of the organization. They were middlemen with little to no encounters with the demon lord himself... Kabuto is the one who witnessed the devil's birth. Like others, he harbours enough intelligence to only disengage from the mania and trauma and make sense of everything as a whole."

"What about Hinata? You don't trust Hyuuga Hinata?"

"I don't particularly trust anyone's story, memories or thoughts." He shrugged once again. "Even she could lie about the events that took place in the DCA. The trauma could alter her memories. The mind is a fragile thing and not much is needed to break the unconscious."

"Kabuto has been there for five years. Who's to say his mind is sound?"

"I say his mind is... not completely torn. I know his mind. I know how untrustworthy and trusting he is. Hyuuga... hasn't the best file regarding her mind." Ibiki said lowly. 

"Hyuuga Hinata's mind isn't broken." scoffed Mitsuyo.

Ibiki looked at her, incredulous. "You have a lot of faith. After the DCA's mental and physical strains on the psyche, I would be surprised if anyone wasn't broken. Hyuuga isn't wrong to falter."

"Have faith in your jonin, Morino."

He replied, quick and stubborn, like a whip. "She is not one ours."

"Huh?"

"She represents Kumogakure. They respond differently." Ibiki shrugged. "Everyone responds differently to situations they can't control."

"Just what went on in there?" Mitsuyo asked carefully.

Ibiki gave her a small pause. He sealed his lips, of course. Instead of answering, Ibiki told her something entirely different. "Notwithstanding, Hyuuga Hinata was in Kumogakure for five years and her loyalties do not lie with us. We already investigated that she isn't guilty."

Mitsuyo sighed in relief.

"Not that she is innocent either," Ibiki finished.

Of course, this man was cryptic in nature but this was too much. The duality of his responses grated into her. What is with this secrecy?! She just wanted to know why Kabuto was there in the first place and whatever happened to Hinata!

"We found that she is mildly responsible for the downfall of the main perpetrators of the DCA. She is to be investigated further to separate the lie from the truth." Ibiki nodded.

Mitsuyo narrowed her eyes. "Why are you letting Kabuto have his way?"

"We don't negotiate with terrorists. Managing Kabuto is not an easy task as you portray it. He is an immensely sophisticated liar and a strong jutsu contender, however, that's been weakened by his time there. We have binds that restrict him and his mind. We are not letting him roam free, Uchiha-san."

"Then why was I allowed to see him?" 

"You got clearance from the Kazekage, himself. Though Kabuto is a terrorist and played a huge during the war, he isn't entirely a criminal."

"What is he, a treasured... compliant law-abiding citizen?" Mitsuyo sneered.

"He's trying to be," Ibiki said with the honesty that paralyzed her waist-down. "His almost cloying co-operation has aided us."

A lightning bolt of cold struck her. Ice was everywhere. "You're kidding..." Mitsuyo blanched.

That snake was trying to be human again?! Since when? Why?

"At first, we lost Kabuto in a siege. This organization with a hierarchal structure stole him when he turned himself in to do time or get punished for his acts during the war. An Uchiha, whether biological or engineered, removed him from a powerful genjutsu placed on him during the war by the infamous Uchiha Itachi. We have reason to believe that when he was released, he did, in fact, have intentions to do time for the crime... However, he was kidnapped by the DCA about years into his sentence. With great rehabilitation and vigorous training, Kabuto had catching up to do in developing empathy to function in natural society. He succeeded in some ways. It didn't nullify the crimes he made but there was progress," Ibiki sighed roughly. "You see, we punish but we also rehabilitate our criminals to the point where they do not make mistakes."

"What does this program have to do with me?!" 

Ibiki sighed. "I saw you, frequently, in his mind. You were a staple figure in his latest development. The crawl towards being better."

"Me?" 

"Yeah." Ibiki scratched his bicep and shook his head. "He purposely makes sexual, er, encounters between you two... go to the forefront of his memories."

Mitsuyo looked at him then moved towards the door. His team immediately blocked it. "I am going to KILL him!"

Ibiki sighed. "Do not. He is willing to let slip all of the things he's done to appease you. He was twitching to tell you about his trauma to soothe you or at least impress you."

Mitsuyo shrunk. "So, I am the carrot that moves the horse... Well, whatever moves eels."

"What?"

Mitsuyo looked away. "Ignore... me."

Ibiki rubbed his chin. "Women are tools of investigation. They're not too painful to look at, they are decently skilled in manipulation and their physical forms secret pheromones that induce a trance-like state for certain males." Ibiki shrugged.

"What, you trying to butter me up, mister? Kabuto and I have nothing that is going on!"

"His memories and your memories as well have said otherwise." Ibiki shrugged.

Mitsuyo gave him a testy glare.

He chuckled. "At times, I'm just saying women are useful during investigations. When the man loves her." he supplied.

"We could also beat the worth of morality into the confused cows you men are." Mitsuyo flexed her knuckles. "I wouldn't mind either manner of investigation."

Ibiki sighed. "That... That isn't the point I made. Just don't do that again. We will be moving to investigate Mitsuki."

Mitsuyo stiffened. "You won't do your little psychopathic routine on his mind, eh?"

Ibiki gave a belly laugh. "Believe me, my jutsu can be used for either the destruction or recovery of minds. I must say, I rather enjoy the fragments of dreams and guilt than the bandages of hope."

She gave him a mild look of distaste. "You like your job too much."

"You're a shinobi. You work with blood and grit." he gruffed. "My job bleeds good intentions." 

"I am not a shinobi. I work with orphan children." Mitsuyo said carefully. "There are laughs and smiles and stickers."

"Stickers?"  

"Yes. Stickers!"

Ibiki paused to look shocked. "You? Children?"

"Anyway," Mitsuyo gave him a nippy look. "Even if I did know where Orochimaru was, I wouldn't wish facing him on anyone. Uchiha... My Sasuke... and that Kabuto both were damaged when facing my sensei. Orochimaru's child is surely nothing like Orochimaru but there is a possibility that he will uncover his deeds. I am sodden with worries. I killed his mother, why is he clinging to me?"

"It seems as though Kabuto trained Mitsuki to see him as some sort of surrogate father due to Orochimaru's absence. That included having a deeply ingrained fondness of you. Mitsuki is attracted to bold strength and bears no loyalty to those who are weak. He does like Hyuuga because of her talk of finding a sun, a person who radiates true hope. He likes your ability to reign in your brutality." Ibiki shrugged.

"Huh?"

Ibiki looked away, to Kabuto who was smiling lightly in the distance. "He does too..."

"Morino-sama!" A lackey ran in, face sparkling with fear and sweat as he was sprinting.

"Damn it, Hiso, what do you want?" Ibiki yelled back in annoyance.

The lackey looked between Mitsuyo and dropped to the floor. Seals of black wrapped around her and she was restrained. Her vision caved.

§§§

-End Chapter-

A/N-   Sorrrrry this was late. Highschool literally sucks so I have no time to write. And such. But. Here's chappie numero coming up next.