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Chapter Text

            Kifu took the morning quiet, the time after the daily chores were assigned to each and every one of the Tribesmembers, to meditate on her rock. Before she had made her position as Head Huntstress in the Air Tribe, she was expected to carry out her duties, just like every one of the men and women that Kifu had recently sent out to do. However, now that she was the only Head Tribesmember of anything anymore, she was expected to stay put within the boundaries of the camp for the most part. She was to address problems and find solutions to everyday conundrums. Of course, some problems others found around the Air Tribe’s romping grounds were far from run of the mill kind of problems.

            “Kifu!” a man screeched. Kifu had picked up on his rushed footsteps up the path to the Air Tribe camp far before he called her name.

            The man coming up the trail was one of the men assigned to sheep duty for the day. That was, keep the herd of sheep together and away from harm. Predators such as coyotes and even raccoons liked to periodically bother the flock, and someone had to keep a proper eye on the animals to make sure nothing happened to them. The Air Tribe depended greatly upon those animals.

            Kifu cracked open an eye at the winded man, whom had scrambled to a halt in front of her rock. Even sitting, the rock gave Kifu a height advantage over the man. He wasn’t particularly short, and probably stood a couple inches taller than Kifu with both of their feet firmly on the ground. He was a little portly, but maintained good muscle mass. He always kept his hair shaved as close to his skin as possible, and Kifu actually forgot what color hair he did have.

            “Baku,” Kifu acknowledged casually. Eljah, Kifu’s unofficial second in command, looked up from her work to study the scene unfolding before her.

            “Kifu,” Baku repeated, a little breathless. “Intruders. They look like they belong to no Tribe.”

            This piqued Kifu’s interest. “Really? What have you done with them?”

            “Roicho is watching them. You need to hurry. I don’t think they’ll stick around long if they don’t want to.”

            Kifu unfolded her feet beneath her and leaned forward. “Why is that?”

            “They have a kind of dangerous air about them,” Baku explained. “Kinda like you.”

            Kifu didn’t take offense to his comment. She was well aware of her reputation within the Air Tribe, but was glad when people approached her for help. Though it was her job to ensure things went smoothly within the Air Tribe, some people plain avoided her at all costs. “How many?” she asked. Using her arms to push herself forward, she jumped down off the rock in one smooth movement. It was about waist height, so it wasn’t that far of a drop to the ground.

            “Two. Both men. One is about my height, the other even taller.”

            Kifu nodded. “Big men don’t scare me,” she said. Not to put on a brave face, but simply to point out a fact. She’d gotten over those kind of issues years back. “Eljah,” she called. Eljah, who was trying to pay attention to her work, albeit unsuccessfully, looked up. “When Takki awakes, tell him to go through a workout sequence. Five sequences will do.”

            “You’re far too easy on the kid, Keef,” Eljah replied.

            “Yeah?” Walking quickly, she crossed the main camp to her personal shelter. Ducking inside, she grabbed her staff and the arm guards she kept only for fights against those she didn’t know. Her knife, Dragon, was always strapped to her side.

            Turning, Kifu caught sight of Eljah nodding vigorously. “Yeah! Why you always let him sleep in while the rest of us gotta work our tails off before the sun even rises?”

            “Because I need my peace,” Kifu replied. “And because he’ll make a lousy hunter.”

            “I ain’t a hunter, yet I’m held to the same standard,” Eljah argued stubbornly.

            “Why don’t you remind me about this conversation later?” Kifu suggested. “I have two tall, strange men to deal with.”

            Baku sighed. Kifu had a suspicion that he didn’t think she was taking him seriously. It was completely false, otherwise she would have left her weapon and guards behind.

            “Show me where they are,” Kifu instructed to Baku. “Quickly.”

            Baku nodded once and took off at top speed down the mountain path. Kifu held the staff firmly under one of her arms as she followed, putting on the arm guards as she ran. It made her gait a little awkward, but she still didn’t have a problem keeping up with Baku in front of her. She had both arm guards on before they had made it off the rocky part of the mountain. As soon as the grass started taking hold on the rocks, Kifu had her staff in hand rather than thrown under an arm, and her full concentration was to running.

            Roicho and the two men he was watching weren’t far off. Kifu caught sight of them fairly quickly after reaching the grass, and left Baku behind to meet them. She slowed down once she could make their features, partially to catch her breath before she had to speak to them.

            Both men kneeled on the ground in wait. Roicho and Baku had probably instructed they do such a thing. Roicho was faster than Baku, but these men both looked like they’d be a match. Baku wasn’t joking.

            The closer man had a fluffy pile of silvered hair on top of his head. The side of his face closest to Kifu was completely covered in dark blue fabric, but Kifu could see that his other eye was exposed. A headband, much like the one Kifu wore on her own head, obscured the closer eye. He also had fabric pulled up over his face and nose. He wore a green vest, but otherwise his clothes were all a dark blue. His lower legs were wrapped in white fabric, and he wore a very sturdy pair of sandals on his feet. Kifu didn’t get much off reading him, but it wasn’t surprising considering how little of his face was showing.

            The other man had a mane of almost unkempt auburn hair on his head. He had black fabric over his forehead, like a headband, but it connected to more fabric that framed his face. He wore a long, brown coat over top a pink shirt and black and pink leggings. His boots rose up to his knees and looked almost metallic. He kept his face down, his eyes hidden in the shadow of his own body.

            Kifu stepped up to where Roicho had been watching them. Roicho went to Baku’s side, closer to the sheep than the strangers. Standing as straight as she could muster, Kifu looked down at the men’s kneeling postures. “My name is Kifu, Head Huntstress of the Air Tribe. May I ask what you’re doing on Tribe territory?”

            Surprisingly, the man was his eyes pointedly averted spoke first. He didn’t lift his head for eye contact, but his voice was still clear. “M’name’s Remy. Remy LeBeau. I can’ tell you why I’m here, but paint me as confused as you, chere. I a man a da city, an’ this ain’t no city ‘round here.”

            Kifu squinted at his heavy accent, but she figured she could make out most of his words. “I don’t know what that means,” she said flatly.

            “I’m sayin’, is like I been dropped here like God’s playin’ some funny joke,” Remy said. “I don’ know why I’m here.”

            Kifu pursed her lips, and then turned her gaze onto the other man. “And you?” The way Remy spoke, he certainly wasn’t speaking for the both of them.

            The silver haired man lifted his eye a little, but not enough to make eye contact. Subservient. Remy was acting like he was hiding something, but this man was being respectful. “I’m Kakashi Hatake. I, also, do not know why I’m here. This isn’t my world.”

            “How do you mean, this isn’t your world?” Kifu asked.

            “The energy is different,” Kakashi explained.

            Kifu frowned, but not because she didn’t understand what Kakashi was explaining. She felt she could feel energies around her, thanks to her meditation and efforts to expand her awareness through it. Kakashi made a lot more sense than Remy did.

            “My men over there say you two are dangerous. Is that true?” Kifu asked.

            Remy immediately chuckled. “Not ta you, ma chere.” Kifu wanted to smack him with her staff, and actually found herself twitch to do so. It took conscious thought to stop the movement.

            Before Kakashi could say a word, Kifu barked, “You call me pet names or make a single move for me, I’ll have your back on the ground in a second, understand?” Her reaction was less voluntary than thought out, and she almost regretted the loss of control. Something about the way he said those words, the tone in his voice, set off bad memories Kifu would never be able to live without.

            Remy’s body stiffened for a split second. Then, finally taking his eyes off the ground, he lifted his head to meet her eyes with his own. Kifu took a step backwards in shock. His eyes were black where eyes were normally white, the colored portion a bright red. “Now, wit’out pokin’ fun at da way I talk, understand dat I don’t make a move where not invited. Comprenez-vous?”

            Kakashi studied Kifu with a lazy, but critical eye. Kifu, composing herself again, returned the scrutinizing look. “And are you dangerous?”

            “Is that the best question you can ask of strangers in your territory?” Kakashi instead asked of her. “You should assume everyone is unpredictable and potential hazard to your Tribe.”

            Kifu didn’t reply right away, but continued watching his face for signs of emotion. Well, his eye for signs of emotion. “You’ve been broken and then asked to protect,” she observed quietly. Kakashi’s eye widened. Briefly. “Yes, I think I have my answer.”

            Motioning with the hand not holding her staff, Kifu said, “Stand. Understand that the Air Tribe will take you in, but we cannot figure out how to get you home. Betray our trust and leave the Tribe without a chaperone, and I will personally track you down and kill you.”

            “Lil’ strict on da rules, der?” Remy asked. He stood smoothly and brushed off his coat as if it was dirty.

            “No,” Kifu said firmly. “You two aren’t special in the sense that we’re giving you special treatment. Our Tribe survives by admitting new members. Those that can’t offer their loyalties are executed to protect ourselves. If you don’t like our rules, I will kill you now.” She set her hand on the knife perched on her hip. “Which will it be, Remy LeBeau?”

            He threw a smile down at her. Kifu was used to dealing with pre-teens with this type of speech, and was a little annoyed at Remy’s nonchalance at her threats. Younger audiences complied because they felt they had to. Kifu wasn’t sure if Remy wasn’t taking her seriously because he didn’t think she was threatening, or if it was because he was skillful enough that he knew he could take her on. “Peace, Kifu,” he said. “I’ll follow da rules fer now.”

            “For as long as you live in the Air Tribe,” Kifu corrected him with narrowed eyes. “Our existence is a secret, for the most part. If you don’t follow the rules, I will kill you to protect us.”

            “A lot of people tried killin’ me, chere,” Remy said, his tone serious for once. “No one succeeded.”

            “Don’t make it necessary,” Kifu said back to him. She clenched her jaw out of frustration. She really hated the cocky ones. Not only did they spring up bad memories, but they were simply annoying to deal with.

            “While I agree the rules are a little, ah, extreme, I do understand their importance,” Kakashi finally chimed in. “You have my full compliance.”

            Kifu bowed her head lightly in his direction. “Thank-you.”

            Kakashi stood at her acknowledgement, but not to his full, straight height. He carried himself in a way that he exuded a noncommittal energy, but Kifu was sure that couldn’t have been the case. Both of these men were indeed dangerous, and it was now up to her to make sure they didn’t cause a blood bath for her Tribe.

            Kifu turned to lead the men back to the camp. Baku, however, caught her attention before she completely turned away. Kifu paused and nodded for him to speak.

            “Is that wise?” he asked simply. His eyes darted nervously between the two strangers.

            “Is what wise?” Kifu asked in reply. She knew exactly what he wanted to know, but she needed him to properly speak his mind rather than avoid the true question on his mind.

            Baku swallowed. “Is it wise bringing them to our camp? Our home?” Roicho nodded subtly beside him. He agreed with the sentiment.

            Kifu glanced over to the two strangers before returning her gaze to Baku. “They had the same choice as everyone else we come across. They chose to join us than die to protect our secret.”

            “Lousy choice,” Remy mumbled beside her. Kifu did not acknowledge him.

            “Outside of the Tribe’s territory, we wouldn’t have to worry. We’d pass by them without them knowing who we are. It’s a little more difficult keeping up the image of vacant land when people inhabit it and tend sheep,” Kifu explained. “We don’t kill for the sake of killing, Baku. We preserve life if we can.”

            “Is it really that easy to join the Tribe?” Roicho asked.

            “So long as I hold my position as Head Huntstress,” Kifu said flatly, “yes. I appreciate your concerns, but I will take full responsibility for these two, as I have for anyone I brought to the Air Tribe. As Taya and Jiogi took responsibility for me when they brought me to the Air Tribe. I will talk with Neto when we reach the camp.”

            “But weren’t you young when you joined?” Baku asked.

            “I was twelve,” Kifu confirmed. “Seventeen years is not long enough for me to forget.” Baku and Roicho were younger than Kifu. They’d joined in the little bit of peace the Tribes experienced before the big war against the organization looking to overthrow all four Tribes. Kifu’s life hadn’t been so peaceful, but that had been her own fault. Like most new recruits, they’d been eight and eleven respectively when they’d been found.

            “I didn’t think we allowed adults to join.”

            “We don’t discriminate,” Kifu said simply. “I unfortunately don’t have time to deal with your objections. You may talk to Neto after you’ve been relieved from your shifts.” She hesitated for a moment. “It would be wise for you two to keep from voicing objections against the existence of others so loudly. Neto, Būks, and I have no problem smoothing over issues, but bringing loud attention to personal concerns can bring you unwanted attention later. I’m sure you know where I’m coming from on this one,” she added.

            Baku threw Roicho a confused glance, but Roicho’s expression switched a mild sense of alarm. Roicho knew of at least once incident Kifu hinted at. Kifu nodded once, and finally turned away.

            “Remy LeBeau, Kakashi Hatake, please follow me.”

            “You run a funny show, Kifu,” Remy commented as soon as they walked out of earshot from Baku and Roicho.

            Kifu walked a few paces ahead of Remy, and Kakashi brought up the rear, offset to the side. Kifu turned her head to look over her shoulder at the tall man. “I don’t understand most of what you say,” she said without much enthusiasm. “What do you mean?”

            “Do you want everyt’in’ brushed under da rug, or not? I can’ tell who you protectin’ back der.”

            Kifu squinted as she mentally sorted through his words. “Brushed under the rug?” she opted in asking.

            “It’s a phrase we use.”

            “It’s a dumb phrase,” Kifu commented. “Say what you mean.”

            Remy hesitated for a moment. “You’re a literal one,” he finally observed. Kifu said nothing. “What I mean is, were you tryin’a protect Ka … kakakshii?”

            “Kakashi,” the man corrected patiently.

            “Kakashi,” Remy repeated slowly. “Alright. You tryin’a protect me an’ Kakashi, yourself, or dem blokes back der? Why you tellin’ ‘em ta hush-hush?”

            Kifu returned her attention back to the path in front of her, rather than the men behind her. “I’m telling them to stay quiet for their own sakes,” she explained. “Not to breed conflict, not to protect anyone, per say. Resentment and blatant displays of distrust don’t typically lead to a very rational end in my experience. I’d rather talk with them, have them talk to you, and we sort everything out peacefully. Baku and Roicho talking about you two the way they did, through me and not through you, can lead to hurt feelings and misunderstandings. I don’t want you to resent them for their words.”

            She turned completely, facing them as she walked backwards. “I also want you two to understand that, while you are not immediately full-fledged members of the Air Tribe, you are completely welcome in the Tribe. People may question my judgment, but I do ask that you give them no reason to be vindicated.”

            Remy studied her. Kakashi appeared to be taking in his surroundings. Kifu had a feeling he heard and was sorting through every word she said. “You are awfully acceptin’,” Remy said softly. “Even considerin’ –” He gestured to his face. His eyes. His strange red on black eyes.

            Kifu nodded once. “I have no reason to be accepting. Your appearance means nothing, if that’s what you mean. I, personally, and the Tribe as a whole, has been betrayed many times within my lifetime. I ask, as I said before, that you don’t make me look the fool and betray my trust in you. You two aren’t even of this world. We’re giving you a home.”

            Remy frowned.

            “You mentioned that your Tribe exists by admitting new people from outside of the Tribe?” Kakashi asked.

            “Yes,” Kifu answered.

            “Yet your existence is secret.”

            “Yes.”

            “I don’t expect very many people drop by like the two of us,” Kakashi guessed.

            “No.”

            “Why do you not form a clan, and continue life in close circuit?”

            Kifu turned to face front again at this question. She wasn’t sure why it made her uncomfortable. “We are partially scavengers. Every now and again we find someone along our way that may want a different life. I did.” Kifu didn’t know exactly why the Tribes functioned as they did. The story was that the way the Tribes brought in people was how they were founded, and was how they would stay.

            “’S kinda how da place I came from worked, too,” Remy said. “We were all branded as outcasts from main society, an’ a guy named Xavier took us all in under his roof. Different circumstances, t’ough.”

            Kakashi hummed thoughtfully under his mask. “I came from a village that was very particular about who could stay and enter,” he said. “It was made of many clans that made their own family rules. We weren’t a secret village, and accepted commissions from people outside of our village to stay prosperous.”

            “As far as I know, not a single village outside of the Tribes function as we do,” Kifu said. “At least, none that I have come across. My home village was formed by a clan. I didn’t feel at home there.”

            “How you know you not jus’ sayin’ dat?” Remy asked.

            “I am ‘just saying that.’ It’s how I feel.”

            “You don’t t’ink da Tribe jus’ brainwashed you?”

            “Does it matter? I’m happy.”

            “Oh?” Remy sounded surprised at this. “You ain’t smilin’ much.”

            “I owe no one else my happiness,” Kifu said. She sighed. “This isn’t exactly the best topic we can talk about, okay? Conversation isn’t my strength, and I’d rather not scare you two away from me or the Air Tribe.”

            “Nah, you don’ scare me,” Remy said with a smirk. “Though it be might’ interestin’ ta see how well you do track, n’est-ce pas?”

            Kifu squeezed her eyes shut for a moment to compose herself. “You’re threatening to run? There’s better ways to test my skills.” She threw a look over her shoulder, grabbing his eyes with her own. “But I do ask that you don’t.”

            “What? Ya shovin’ smoke up my ass?”

            “I don’t have any patience to test,” she warned him in a tight voice. She was almost regretting having a witness if she ended up killing Remy instead of starting him through the process of getting accepted into the Tribes. She took a few deep breaths. Remy remained quiet instead of further testing her.

            “I promise I’ll teach and show you everything you wish to know if we don’t die before that point. We don’t jump into teaching new Tribesmembers skills such as tracking, hunting, or self-defense until we’ve taught a firm understanding of the Tribe. But I do know we’re going to have to treat you two a little differently than our normal Tribeslings. I don’t know what your skill sets are, but they’re far superior to a twelve year-old’s.”

            Kifu could feel Remy smirking from behind her. “You t’ink I need taught anyt’in’, chasseuse?”

            Kifu gritted her teeth. “I don’t know,” she clarified and turned her head to look at him again. “I don’t know anything about you. Why don’t you tell me a little bit about yourself, Remy?” She tried to paste on a sweeter voice to cover up her frustration, but failed miserably.

            “Nah, hard pass.”

            “You’ve already claimed that I won’t be able to kill you and you want to see if a hunter can track you down. You have some skill.”

            “Looks like you know enough about me, chasseuse.”

            “No pet names,” Kifu grumbled.

            “Not a pet name. It a title. See, I respectin’ your wishes.”

            “I don’t think we’re going to get along,” Kifu pointed out.

            This elicited a blink in response. “I t’ink most people tell me ta shut up or jus’ try ta kill me. You blunt and literal, non?”

            “I don’t get along with a lot of people. I get the job done rather than socialize. Don’t take it personally.”

            Remy placed a hand over his chest. “It sounds personal ta me.”

            “No, you’re pushing at my weak points to get a response. I don’t need emotional manipulation in my life.”

            Remy mouthed the word ‘wow,’ but didn’t say anything more. Kifu turned back around.

            The terrain was getting rockier as they left the sloped plains between the mountains and the river. The grass’s hold over the rocky ground lessened at the higher elevation. Much to Kifu’s relief, they weren’t much further from camp. Walking, as well as dealing with Remy the entire way, made the return trip feel much longer than the mad dash to where the sheep were grazing. Neither Remy nor Kakashi complained as their walk turned into a steep uphill hike.

            “What’s da point a’yer Tribe?” Remy asked. He must have calculated an appropriate time for silence.

            “You’re going to have to be more specific,” Kifu told him.

            “So you take people inta yer Tribe, ney? What do y’all do?”

            “Exist?” Kifu still wasn’t sure what he wanted from her.

            “I guess we all kinda do dat,” Remy said thoughtfully. “No higher reason? Kakashi said his village takes on commissions. Kinda interested in what type’a commissions,” Remy added in a mutter. He allotted a small breather for that to sink in before moving on in his regular tone. “My team pretty much saved da world over an’ over again an’ provided a safe place for people like me. Ya don’t form for a bigger reason?”

            “A lot of the children we find are without family,” Kifu said. “I guess we give a place for children like that to live a longer life.”

            “Dat sounds like a good reason t’me,” Remy commented.

            “We don’t need a reason to exist,” Kifu said. “No one needs a reason to exist. We weren’t born for a purpose. We find purpose to exist as we live.”

            “Let’s skip da philosophy lesson an’ move on, capiche?”

            “No no. You should not bring up topics you’re not willing to see to the end,” Kifu chided.

            Kakashi took that moment to let out an audible sigh. Kifu glared at him over her shoulder. “Do you have something to add?” she asked.

            His shoulders jerked back. “Huh?”

            “Was that not your way of injecting an opinion into this conversation, without actually voicing an opinion?” Kifu asked.

            “No,” he said quickly. “This isn’t a conversation I have anything to add to.”

            Kifu set her mouth to show her lack of amusement, staring at him a little longer before looking back at the path in front of her. The ground was getting a little too uneven to look behind her for long. “Noncommittal,” she observed.

            “In this case?” Kakashi said. “Absolutely.”

            Remy snorted. Kifu sighed. “I don’t need your views to reflect mine. That would not be the mark of a good teacher.” She held up a hand before Remy could object. “Not that I’m seeking to be your teacher. I can hardly teach one child. I guess it means that it’s the mark of poor character on my part.”

            “Yeah, alright,” Remy said. “Y’know, if yer t’inkin’ some bent morals is gonna be a problem, I might have a story for ya.”

            Kifu perked up at this. She wouldn’t mind having a little background on one of these strange men. They offered up a lot less about their lives than a child would. “A story?” she repeated.

            “Yeah. I grew up wit’out knowin’ what morals are, chasseuse. Dey hardly beat one inta me later. Don’t t’ink you gonna be much dif’rent. Or dat I’ll care if you a bit crooked. I’m willin’ ta bet we’re all a li’l crooked inside, ya?”

            Kifu hung her head at this. It wasn’t a story after all. “Damaged, perhaps,” she said. “But I don’t know if ‘crooked’ is a word I’d use.”

            “Yeah, I stick wit’ crooked.”

            “Definitely speaking for yourself,” Kakashi interjected.

            Kifu took note of their stances on character. Remy didn’t appear to care one way or another if the people around him weren’t good people. In fact, he expected it. Kifu had a difficult time imagining what else he could mean by everyone being a little crooked inside. This wasn’t a particularly new feeling with him, either. She figured she’d have a hard time reining Remy in later on, if he even decided to stick around. Kakashi seemed to be more of a loyal fellow. Kifu might be able to trust him once he’d been around long enough.

            Remy let the subject drop after that, and no one made a move to pick up conversation again. It offered Kifu plenty of time to center herself before they made it to the camp. She’d need that little bit of calm to talk to Neto. She’d never been particularly formal with the man, but she figured she should offer a little bit of decorum to the matter of bringing two adult men to the camp. Two dangerous men, as pointed out by Baku, and confirmed simply by the way they carried themselves. For all Kifu knew, either one of them could single handedly fend Kifu off and wantonly attack the Tribe.

            Their feet quietly followed Kifu’s path as they reached the woman standing guard outside of their camp. Kifu lifted a hand to greet her, and allow admittance to the men following her. She stood tall at attention, only following them with her eyes rather than her whole face. Kifu caught sight of Remy sizing her up as he walked by, but Kakashi ignored her as he watched the scenery slowly pass by.

            “Dis where you live, chasseuse?” Remy asked.

            “Yes,” Kifu answered plainly.

            “It, uh, mighty simple, non?”

            “I wouldn’t know in relation to where you came from,” she said just as blankly as before. “This place is far grander than where I was born.”

            “Mon dieu,” he whispered in response.

            Eljah stood up at Kifu’s entrance, her eyes wide. Kifu ignored her for the time being, and turned to Remy and Kakashi. “Make yourself comfortable around the fire.” It wasn’t lit yet, but the pit was obvious. “Eljah will be happy to chat with you.”

            “I will?” Eljah asked.

            “Yes.” Kifu dismissed her again, looking at the other man sitting in the camp center. “Kannawi, would you please go fetch Telk?”

            Kannawi looked up from his work, startled. He’d been stretching a deer hide, completely engrossed in what he was doing. “Telk?” he repeated.

            Kifu nodded. “Telk.”

            “Baku wasn’t kiddin’,” Eljah commented.

            Kifu nodded again. “Baku wasn’t kidding,” she confirmed.

            “Are you three acting mysterious for a purpose?” Kakashi asked. He hadn’t moved since he’d stepped foot into the camp. Kifu wasn’t aware that he had been studying them so closely. He still seemed to be looking around as if in his own world.

            Kifu motioned again to Kannawi to get him moving. He was glancing nervously between Remy and Kakashi. Setting down his unfinished hide, he scurried off to where Telk had been assigned for the morning. Kifu couldn’t even remember where she had assigned the man.

            Kakashi watched him leave, and then turned to face Kifu again. “I’m asking that question to get an answer.”

            “My people understand what I want from them with minimal conversation,” Kifu explained. She thumbed over to Eljah. “Eljah likes to be confusing on purpose.”

            “Oh yeah, whatever,” Eljah grumbled. “By the way, your brat still isn’t awake.”

            Kifu sighed and buried her forehead into her hand. “I guess he gets a day off. I need to talk to Neto. I assume you’re capable to acquainting yourselves?”

            Remy stepped up to Eljah and held out a hand. “M’name’s Remy,” he said.

            Eljah stared at his hand, not looking at his face. “And you already know who I am,” she said. “Thanks to someone!” she added in a shout to Kifu’s back. Kifu had already dropped her staff off at her door and was making her way to Neto’s door. Kifu’s hut was situated closest to the camp entrance. She’d taken over the Head Warrior’s hut after the war, rather than taking residence in the Head Hunter’s. The Head Hunter’s hut remained empty. Neto insisted that Kifu could do the work of both jobs and refused to fill in the hole. Neto’s hut was behind both the Head Warrior’s and Head Hunter’s huts, down a little, narrow pathway. The backs of the senior center’s huts, and the backs of the Head’s huts, made the path to give a little protection to their leader in case of an attack. Neto had a back door leading to the senior center, but there was no back way out of a small village built into a mountain. The hope was that an attack wouldn’t get any further than central camp, and that the elderly would be protected. They’d already given enough of their lives into protecting others.

            Kifu didn’t even have to knock on the door frame to gain Neto’s attention when she reached his hut. His voice invited her inside immediately.

            “I understand we had intruders,” he said. He had a small fire inside of his hut, lending light to an otherwise dark interior. The flames cast dancing shadows across his face, illuminating the faint wrinkles that had accumulated throughout Kifu’s life. He was nearing his fifties.

            Kifu bowed her head and knelt on the ground in front of where he sat. “Yes.”

            “You took care of them?”

            “Yes,” Kifu answered.

            “In which way?”

            “I brought them to our camp, Neto.”

            Neto leaned back against the stone wall and crossed his arms. Kifu set her jaw for a verbal lashing. Neto always favored her, but what if she had finally done something unforgivable? “I trust your judgment. What is your assessment?”

            Kifu blinked. She hadn’t been the decision maker in the Tribe for long. Yet since Neto had made her Head Huntstress, he’d been placing a lot of responsibility on her shoulders. “There were two. Both appear to be around my age.”

            Neto held up a hand. “Your age?”

            Kifu nodded. “Yes. Around thirty.”

            Neto hummed uncertainly to himself. “I don’t think I’ve ever recruited anyone that’s lived so long to the Air Tribe before. Continue.”

            Kifu licked her lips to regain her wits. “Two men. They both claim this is not their world. One said his name is Remy LeBeau. He comes from a place where he’d provide a safe place for, his words, ‘people like him.’ He also claims that he’s saved his world time and again, that he does not fear combat and he welcomes the challenge of trying to run from me. I understand he doesn’t know my skill, but I also do not know his and he continuously tries to provoke me.”

            Neto cut in with a small chuckle, but otherwise offered no words. Kifu may have had a reputation for a shorter temper, especially in his eyes.

            “He’s also described himself and all others as being a little crooked. I do not know his moral baseline or if we can trust him.”

            “How much of that do you believe is your personal perception?”

            Kifu opened her mouth, but had no reply. “I … do not know, Neto.”

            “You already have a distaste for him. You have Eljah watching him right now?”

            “Yes.”

            “Send her in when you are finished here.”

            “Yes.” Eljah didn’t often see a whole lot of bad in people. Kifu jumped to worse conclusions than her.

            “The other man?”

            “His name is Kakashi Hatake. He isn’t as vocal as Remy. However, while he hasn’t told me that he’d like to fight me or test me like Remy, I believe he could be fully capable. He appears to be unobservant, but that is highly unlikely. He accepted my terms readily before I brought him to the Tribe, but he is cautious. I do not believe that he’ll back out of his word, but I do believe he’ll quietly evaluate us all. He says that he comes from a village made of many clans that took commissions, though he did not elaborate on what these commissions were, to have monetary power.”

            “You have a higher respect for this man already,” Neto observed.

            Kifu bit her lip. “Possibly.”

            “Do you think this is personal preference?”

            “Even more likely.”

            “Why do you think this?”

            Kifu swallowed. “He isn’t boisterous and cocky. He readily accepted that he wasn’t the one in power, and he came to my defense on a couple topics on our way here. Plus, I do appreciate his reservations in accepting the way we run the Tribes, but nevertheless accept that that was how we operated.”

            “Do you think he could be deceiving you?”

            Kifu ran through her interactions with the man, calculating them on a more objective level. “I do not.”

            “And the other man? Do you think he might be deceiving you?”

            “How, Neto?”

            “He is a more up front man, evaluating you by your response. Do you think his claims are deception?”

            Kifu thought again. “I also do not believe so.”

            “By your evaluations, Kakashi is safe and can be admitted into the Tribe and sent on tasks as is. But Remy must be watched?”

            “No.”

            Neto leaned forward. “They must both be watched?”

            “Yes. They do not understand our customs, our culture, or our craft. Like any Tribesling, they must be taught these simple things first. During this trial, we can better understand them at the same time. After they’ve learned, however, I do not believe they’ll need mentors.”

            “I appreciate your honesty, Kifu.”

            Kifu bowed her head lower. “Always, Neto.”

            “Custom would dictate we assign them to Mai. I do not believe that would be wise in this situation,” Neto said.

            “Agreed.”

            “What do you propose?”

            Kifu lifted her head in surprise. She wouldn’t think that such a heavy situation would be placed on her shoulders. She figured she had done her job and she could pass this on to Neto. She was to act as an advisor, not the other way around. “I do not know, Neto.”

            “I will debate about this further. Have you done anything beyond bringing them to the camp and having Eljah watch them as you talk to me?”

            “I asked Kannawi to fetch Telk.”

            Neto looked surprised at this. “So cautious of you?”

            “Yes.”

            “Then do tell Mai to keep the Tribeslings and retired Tribesmembers to stay back, please. You may show Remy and Kakashi the barracks at which they will be staying – ”

            “If I may? I do not believe they should be housed with the rest of the Tribesmembers. I think it would be better if I watched them and they stayed in the hut meant for me.”

            “The Head Hunter’s hut?”

            “Yes.”

            Neto paused, rubbing his face in thought. “That’s not a bad idea.”

            “Thank-you.” Kifu wasn’t sure what the correct response was in that case. “Does this change your orders?”

            “Do tell Mai. Keep them in the main camp. What other duties do you have today?”

            “I still have to wake Takki and work with him today. I also need to go through evening duties and assign them.”

            “You still insist on personalizing your duties every day,” Neto observed with a grin.

            “It allows for personal tastes for each and every Tribesmember,” Kifu explained.

            “Holme was never so thorough.”

            “He had a lot on his mind after … Kumji,” Kifu excused. Holme had been the sole Head Hunter after Kumji, their Head Warrior, had passed. It was after Kumji’s death that Neto had decided against assigning another Head Warrior. Even going into the war against Kumji’s organization bent on taking Neto down, Neto placed everything on Holme’s shoulders. Holme had been alone on a two person job for over ten years before he died in the war.

            Neto smiled. “You even make excuses for Holme when the two of you hardly got along. Very well. Am I correct in thinking you, Eljah, and Telk are capable of entertaining our new Tribeslings until I think of something?”

            “How long do you think that will take?” Kifu asked.

            “Good question. I may have to confer with Būks and Mai.” He still looked at her expectantly, waiting for his answer.

            Kifu sighed. “I will be sure it’s done.”

            “Good. You may leave.”

            Kifu stood, bowed, and left the way she came.

            “Keef?” Eljah asked upon seeing her emerge from the path.

            “Eljah?” Kifu paused between pathways. She needed to go down the path to the senior center now to talk to Mai.

            “You’re alive, so that’s a good sign.”

            Kifu frowned at her.

            “What?”

            “That isn’t funny.”

            “You don’t think anything is funny.” Eljah didn’t seem too off put by pointing this out.

            “Crooked,” Remy called.

            Kifu ignored him. “Neto would like to talk to you, but I need to find Mai and wake Takki first.”

            “You’re far too easy on that kid,” Eljah repeated.

            “It couldn’t be helped today.”

            “You gave him plenty of time to wake up before this all happened.”

            “Again, Eljah, later.”

            “This is later, Keef.”

            “Later still, please.”

            “Can I call you Keef, chasseuse?”

            “No,” Kifu said firmly. “Consider this your verbal warning before I take it to a physical match. Do not call me pet names.”

            Eljah lifted her brows and looked back and forth between the two. “My man, you did some real butterin’ up on your way here. You don’t wanna be messin’ with her.”

            “Y’know, she tell me da same t’ing,” Remy said thoughtfully. “Dat how you settle t’ings ‘round here?”

            “Not typically,” Kifu said. “I will be right back.” She hurried down the main path before either Eljah or Remy could get in another word.

            Kifu walked slowly down the open corridor once out of their sights. She had become the center of this problem, and she was finding herself unravelling faster than she would have liked. She could let someone else, her trusted friend, deal with Remy for a moment before he attempted to pick her apart again.

            One of Mai’s Tribeslings, a little girl by the name of Sani, was outside the archway leading into the senior center, and ran inside to alert Mai of Kifu’s presence. Kifu didn’t spend a lot of time with the elders any longer. She didn’t have the time. Her coming back into Mai’s territory was significant enough even her little followers knew something was wrong. Mai met Kifu in the archway.

            “What happened?” she asked quickly.

            “Peace,” Kifu said, her hands held up in front of her. “Nothing is wrong. We had two intruders that I have brought into the Tribe. These are labeled as dangerous men, but are being taken in as Tribeslings. Neto asked me to have you keep the children and retired Tribesmembers back.”

            “Adult Tribeslings?” Mai asked in confusion. “We’re doing such a thing?”

            “Yes.”

            “Okay, understood.” It wasn’t Mai’s place to question Kifu’s or Neto’s decision.

            “Neto may be visiting you shortly for advice,” Kifu said.

            “My advice?”

            “Yes. We’re a little uncertain on how to proceed with two adult Tribeslings. We don’t expect you to watch them.”

            A smile twitched at the corners of Mai’s lips. “I’m grateful. I will tell everyone here of the order. I don’t think I’ll tell them why.”

            “That’s up to you,” Kifu said. She sighed and turned to look down the path. She wasn’t keen on returning to the main camp. Mai retreated back to the senior center, leaving Kifu alone at the end of the path. It was her willpower alone that forced her to move onward.

            Forcing Takki out of bed was her next step. Kifu wasn’t entirely sure what she was supposed to do with the kid today, since she would have to keep an eye on him, Remy, and Kakashi, but she knew that she couldn’t let him sleep all day. A part of her wondered if he really could sleep through the entire day. He never seemed to wake up on his own.

            Kifu couldn’t see anything as soon as she stepped into the Tribesmembers’ barracks. The great stone walls, in conjunction with the steep cliffs of the mountain, blocked out nearly all of the sunlight. Fortunately, Kifu had walked this path so many times, she didn’t need to see to make her way to Takki’s hammock. Without giving Takki any time to register her presence, Kifu walked up to the hook holding the foot end of his hammock to the wall, grabbed on to the braid of rope, and pulled it off of the hook. Letting go, she let Takki crash to the ground. He woke with a shout.

            “Ow!”

            “Serves you right.”

            “Kifu?”

            “No. You may as well call me ‘Mother.’”

            “Ugh.”

            “Get up.”

            “You just threw me to the ground!”

            “Get up.” Kifu stood with her arms crossed.

            Takki grumbled and slowly clambered to his feet.

            “Good. Now get to center camp.”

            “Even Mai wasn’t this mean.”

            “Mai babysits children all day. I run the Tribe. Forgive me if I’m a little short.” Kifu stalked out of the barracks, hoping Takki wouldn’t be long after her.

            “You look a little high strung, Keef,” Eljah commented as soon as Kifu returned to center camp.

            “I’m surrounded by idiots,” Kifu griped. “Why did Neto assign Takki to me?” She rubbed her forehead, as if massaging away a headache.

            “No one else wanted him,” Eljah said with a grin. “Anyway, Kannawi isn’t back with Telk yet. You want me talkin’ to Neto now?”

            “Yes. Hurry back if you can.” She looked over Remy and Kakashi lounging about the camp. Remy was discreetly peering over Kakashi’s shoulder as he read from a small book.

            “Dat ain’t even English, mon copain,” Remy said.

            “Why would it be in English?” Kakashi asked absently.

            “Remy, Kakashi,” Kifu said to bring their attention to her. Kakashi lowered his book, but did not put it away.

            “Oui?”

            “Until we sort everything out, I don’t feel like it is wise to treat you like children. We won’t explain our philosophy before letting you out of the camp. We won’t have you perform menial work to teach you responsibility. We won’t assign you to a group under a single Tribesmember so that you may hear stories from our retired Tribesmembers.”

            “Sounds good ta me.”

            “That doesn’t mean we’ll throw you into work. You still don’t understand how the Tribe works.”

            “I’n’t dat your job, chasseuse?”

            “No.” She crossed the main camp to where the two were standing. “I would like to test your skills, though. It’s my job to know how well each Tribesmember performs each of our main tasks. We all learn to hunt, track, and fight, as well as a craft or two. Could I ask you two to test yourself against a couple of my people?”

            Takki chose this moment to burst into the center camp. “Don’t worry, I’m here now!” he exclaimed.

            Kifu turned, standing perpendicular to both Remy and Kakashi, and Takki. “Great. Just in time.”

            “We won’t be testing ourselves against you?” Kakashi asked, as if Takki hadn’t said anything.

            “Whoa – who are these two?” Takki asked. His voice carried through the camp loud enough to echo off the nearest huts.

            “We’ll get to that,” Kifu said dismissively to Takki. She regarded Kakashi. “At this time, I’d rather watch a match to understand your skills. You are both versed in combat?”

            “’Course, chasseuse.”

            Kakashi turned his chin down. “I am.”

            Kifu nodded and then turned to Takki. “Wait for Eljah. Tell her to meet us outside of camp. I want you there, too. Grab my bow and a quiver on your way.”

            “From where?” Takki asked.

            Kifu blinked. “My hut. Where else?”

            “I’m allowed in there?”

            “That hasn’t stopped you before,” Kifu said with a noncommittal answer.

            “Bow and quiver, huh?” Kakashi asked absentmindedly. “Will you be testing us on everything?”

            “I doubt we have time for that,” Kifu told him. She turned away from Takki and motioned for Remy and Kakashi to leave the camp again. No one truly stayed idle for long. Even after the daily chores had been finished, people found things to do. Kakashi led the way forward, and Remy fell in before Kifu.

            “What would you do if you find out you really can’t kill us, chasseuse?” Remy asked. “How ya gonna keep us from leavin’?”

            “Do you really think it’s going to come to that, Remy?” Kifu asked as patiently as she could.

            “I jus’ feel like you doin’ an awful lot o’ assumin’ dat we’ll stay put.”

            “I gave you a choice,” Kifu pointed out.

            “Yeah, a lousy one. ‘Member?”

            “You really have a problem with the situation? We are giving you a home and are bringing you into our Tribe. When you’re not even on your own world, I feel like you should do less poking at the one giving you this chance, and more feeling grateful for not having to fend for yourself.”

            Remy sighed. “Feels an awful lot like bein’ your prisoner den your comrade, chasseuse.”

            Kifu frowned. When Taya and Jiogi had found her outside of her village, she’d been grateful for a different place to go. She felt estranged in her own home, and every time she tried to do something about it, she’d get punished further. Remy obviously wasn’t happy with the choice, but humored Kifu to stay alive. She was having a difficult time putting herself into his place, and it was setting her at odds against him. “I apologize. I do not want you to feel that way.”

            The narrowed path leading to and from the village widened into the typical rocky terrain of the mountainside. Kifu used this to walk next to him rather than behind. Remy might respond better to being treated as an equal. “I promise that after supper tonight, I’ll listen to everything you need to say. I will hear your concerns and try to work them into your accommodations as much as is in my power. You are part of the Air Tribe now, Remy, and I would like you to feel at home.”

            Remy studied her for a moment, silently mulling over her words. “Yer boss give you a lashin’ for losin’ your temper or somet’in’?”

            Kifu blinked. “What?”

            “Yer actin’ different den when ya first came out ta meet us.”

            “He did not punish me, no. I, again, apologize for being short tempered. But it is kind of my job in the Tribe to make everyone happy.” It wasn’t, but Kifu worked hard on making it that way anyway. “You are a part of our Tribe now.”

            “Yeah, I hear ya. Still not happy ‘bout dat part.”

            “What? Being a part of something?”

            “Mm-hmm.”

            This was another thing Kifu was having difficulty understanding. Kifu was happily alone most of the time, but even she enjoyed having her Tribesmembers to fall back to. Remy didn’t want anyone? “Why?”

            “Le’s say I don’ like people dependin’ on me, chasseuse.”

            “Why? Do you often let them down?”

            “Mm. Somet’in’ like dat.”

            Kifu set her jaw. Remy was no longer jabbing at her to get a response, but he was closing himself off from her by being so vague. It was almost equally as frustrating. “Alright. I won’t pry any further. We all have our secrets.” Kifu didn’t like others poking at her history, either. “But if you do have any concerns about anything, you will come to me?”

            “Yeah, sure.”

            Kifu let the conversation drop, but didn’t fall back and continued to walk side-by-side with him. Kakashi took the silence as cue to ask his question. “Kifu? Do you have a certain area in mind?”

            “Oh yeah. Once the ground levels out a little bit is fine. Not too far, or Takki, Eljah, Kannawi, and Telk will have a difficult time finding us.”

            “Hey!” a shout sounded from behind them. Kifu paused and turned around, though she was fully aware to who the voice belonged to. Takki and Eljah were jogging down the mountainside to join their group. It appeared as if Takki had conveniently forgotten the bow and quiver.

            “That was quick,” Kifu observed.

            “I didn’t have much to say,” Eljah explained simply. She held up the staff that Kifu had left leaning against her hut. “You meant to leave this behind?”

            “Yes.”

            “Well damn. I carried it for nothing.”

            “Not true.” Kifu turned to continue following Kakashi and Remy. Kakashi had paused when Takki called out, but Remy forged onward. “I’ve trained you in the staff.”

            Eljah added an extra burst of speed to walk beside Kifu. Her eyes were wide. “Oh no, you are not makin’ me test them, Keef.”

            Kifu smiled. “Just one. Kannawi will test the other.”

            “What am I here for?” Takki asked.

            Kifu flashed him a disapproving look. “For me to watch after. You have training to catch up on, Takki.” His step faltered.

            “Shouldn’t this, I dunno, be your job, Keef?”

            Kifu raised a brow at Eljah, casting her a sidelong glance. “No. I test apprentices that wish to be full Tribesmembers. There is no protocol for testing newly admitted adults that came from combative backgrounds.”

            Eljah grumbled incoherently to herself. Kifu was well aware of Eljah’s aversion to fighting, but she also knew the reason behind it. Eljah felt that she wasn’t fit to be a proper Air warrior. She didn’t think that she measured up. True, she wasn’t the best fighter the Air Tribe had to offer, but Kifu had taught Eljah some tricks herself. She simply couldn’t raise Eljah’s esteem any higher.

            “Dis good, chasseuse?” Remy called from ahead.

            Kifu nodded. “Yes. This place works.” The rockier terrain had given way to grass for the most part, but they were far enough away from the sheep that they couldn’t even see them. They were nearer the block of woods that started up on Air territory, and extended into Water and Earth lands. They weren’t very far from where Telk and Kifu often practiced together.

            “How is this going to work?” Kakashi asked.

            “We set in a rule that we are not out to injure or maim, and that this is a friendly spar. I want to understand your skill levels, if that’s alright.”

            “Do you fight often? In the Tribes?” Kakashi asked.

            “For our lives? No. For fun? Very.”

            “Why you not fightin’ us yourself, chasseuse?”

            Kifu pointedly looked at Takki, whom had pulled to a stop beside her. “I have this one to deal with. And I don’t spar much anymore.” She wasn’t rusty by any means, but a part of her was apprehensive in letting Remy and Kakashi know the extent of her skills. She wanted to keep herself just mysterious enough that they’d think twice about toeing her line. It worked real well with the younger Tribeslings, especially since they heard stories about her before ever meeting her. It wasn’t that she wanted to be feared, but she didn’t want to be immediately written off.

            “You sure you not makin’ yourself up t’ be someone better den you really are?” Remy asked with a smirk.

            Eljah laughed for Kifu’s sake. “I am not fighting him,” she said to Kifu.

            “I believe I’m fairly realistic about my skills,” Kifu said to Remy. “But I’m also not too young to be boastful, either.”

            “I t’ink we need ta see fer ourselves chasseuse.”

            Kifu smiled softly at his eagerness, but turned to Kakashi. If Eljah didn’t want to fight Remy, Kakashi was her opponent. “Would you like to begin, Kakashi?”

            Kakashi shrugged, his hands in his pockets. Kifu hadn’t even been aware that his pants had pockets, especially considering he wore pouches externally from his clothes. “I don’t see why not,” he said.

            “Do you have any parameters you’d like to set?” Kifu asked, looking between Eljah and Kakashi. “Beside the one where you do not kill or maim?”

            Kakashi shrugged again. “I don’t need any special rules for my sake.” He looked Eljah square in the eyes. “You may attack with intent to kill and use any weapon you choose.” Kifu blinked. She wasn’t expecting him to ask for something so intense, especially considering the nature of the exercise.

            Eljah flashed him an uncertain smile. “How ‘bout we don’t try ta kill, right? I’m rather attached to this life I’m livin’.” Kakashi’s expression, what little was visible, didn’t change. His sleepy eye was somehow intense, his relaxed posture showing minute hints of readiness for counterattack. Kifu was getting the sinking feeling that Eljah stood no chance against the man, especially in her nervous state.

            Kifu motioned to Remy and Takki to stand back, and offered a nod to Kakashi and Eljah to begin. Eljah stared at the staff she still held in her hands, and then looked back up to Kakashi. He hadn’t moved, but eyed her with an alert idleness to his expression. Eljah would have to begin the match. After a few calming breaths, Eljah sank into a pre-attack posture, holding the staff lightly but firmly.

            After standing back, Remy was watching as aptly as Kifu. He sat himself on the ground, one knee propped up in the air for him to lean on as he watched. He didn’t sit on his coat, but it billowed outward from where he sat.

            Kakashi wasn’t going to make the first move. Kifu was fine striking first, as she always had to when sparring with Eljah, but Eljah hated it. She claimed it put her at a disadvantage, allowing the enemy to size her up and evaluate the way she moved before she even had a chance. Perhaps she was right in this case. Eventually, however, Eljah took what was an obviously begrudging step forward and swung the staff around to strike at Kakashi’s middle. Kakashi moved fluidly, stepping backward out of her line of attack. Following the path of the staff with his far arm, he stepped in close again and wrapped his fingers around the wood. He then swung his opposite foot around and executed a well-grounded side kick to unbalance Eljah and commandeer her staff. Eljah didn’t fall, but she stumbled.

            Kifu set her jaw. Within the first few seconds, Kakashi had done more than enough damage to Eljah’s ego. She wouldn’t last much longer, especially if he went on the offensive. Remy picked himself off the ground and sidled up to Kifu. “Y’know, a lot o’ people don’t like me, an’ I’m fine wit’ dat. But I ain’t no killer. Dis guy? He an assassin. I’m t’inkin’ you gotta be careful ‘round him, chasseuse.”

            Kifu briefly furrowed her brow. “What makes you say he’s an assassin?”

            “I know da type.”

            Takki, for once, was silently awestruck, and didn’t try to interject himself into their conversation.

            “Were you raised by assassins or something?” Kifu asked flatly.

            “No. T’ieves, but no assassins. My best childhood friend as an assassin, t’ough.”

            Kakashi was letting Eljah recuperate. He held the staff away from her, putting his body between it and Eljah, but he didn’t attack again. Eljah, for her part, looked frustrated but not ready to quit.

            “Got enough data for your mental charts, Keef?” Eljah called out.

            “You mean with one exchange?” Kifu taunted. She wanted to make her jaunt feel lighthearted, but Remy’s words weighed on her. While she didn’t say the Tribe could outright trust these men, the one Kifu thought had a better moral base could have more blood on his hands than Kifu.

            “This is the last time I’m lettin’ you talk me into somethin’ like this,” Eljah complained. “Do it yourself.”

            She stepped forward, covering the little bit of distance Kakashi had put between them by unbalancing her, and struck out with a punch on her dominant side. Kakashi batted her fist away with his free hand, keeping his stance firm. Eljah tried again, this time with her other fist, but to the same outcome. She tried getting fancy with her footwork, getting different angles in while she punched, but Kakashi blocked them all with his single hand and without ever breaking his nonchalant expression.

            “T’ing you gotta ask, chasseuse, is why he’s holdin’ back so much,” Remy muttered to her.

            Kifu inhaled and held her breath a moment. “Don’t you think I’ve already been asking that to myself about the both of you?”

            Neither Kifu, Remy, nor Takki took their eyes away from the sparring pair. It was a very one-sided fight, and Kakashi appeared to be exerting no energy, while Eljah was already puffing for breath.

            “At least you not an idiot,” Remy said, and Kifu was sure she detected a snide smile accompanying his words.

            “You’re both a little bit of a conundrum. You’re doing it on purpose. Kakashi? He had his childhood taken from him. I did, too. And then he was asked to defend, whether it be his village or a group of people, I won’t ever know. He’s already confirmed that. I can probably see where assassination comes into play there. I don’t think he’ll confide in anyone because of whatever happened to him when he was young. Now it’s ingrained in him as an adult. So he puts up a front. Doesn’t even know it’s there, judging by how smooth it is. That, or he’s had a lot of practice erecting it.”

            A pause, only the smacking of Kakashi fending off Eljah breaking the silence. “Damn.” Remy had nothing else to offer.

            Kifu could feel both Remy’s and Takki’s eyes on her, but she continued watching the fight. Eljah was wearing out and reaching the point of frustration where she’d quit. She started acting a little too erratically. Thankfully, Kifu hadn’t yet seen her reach this point on any battlefield.

            “Kifu?” Takki asked. “I think that judgment says a lot about you.”

            “Congratulations, kid. You saw a side of me no one else has in the Tribe, then,” Kifu deadpanned. Of course, a few of them grew up alongside Kifu and knew a large portion of her story. Only a few knew things that happened outside of the limelight, Eljah included.

            Kakashi finally shifted his stance, moving from a firm defensive to a much lighter offensive. Still holding on to the staff, but without using it, he thrust out once to Eljah’s middle with his opposite fist. The punch connected, having caught Eljah off guard, and it sent Eljah to her knees. Her breaths came out in wheezes. He moved to make a finishing blow, to send her completely to the ground, but Kifu was able to stop him with a simple shouted “enough.” His eye briefly caught Kifu’s, and then he took a step back.

            Kifu wasn’t sure if even she’d be able to match Kakashi’s skill. She itched to try.

            Neto would not be amused at Kifu’s report.

            Kannawi and Telk still hadn’t arrived to meet them.

            “Well done, sir,” Takki called out to Kakashi. “You should teach me.”

            Kifu almost smacked him. “You are not ready to be taught how to fight,” she said quickly. “You are not disciplined enough.” She pointed off to a flat area beside their makeshift sparring pad. “Go practice your exercises. Get through them all and I’ll give you a shot at me.”

            Takki’s eyes immediately lit up.

            “You’re gonna start teaching me?” he asked excitedly.

            “No. One shot.” She grinned, a thought occurring to her. “Assuming you can even make it through your exercises without getting sidetracked, if you land one single hit on me, I’ll start training you in defensive styles tomorrow.” Takki was off without another word. “Concentrate on correct form!” Kifu called after him.

            Kakashi had approached her without a word during her exchange with Takki. His exposed eye followed Takki as he rushed to carry out Kifu’s instructions. “She’ll be okay as soon as she catches her breath,” he told Kifu, his eye still on Takki.

            “I know,” she said. “I appreciate you going easy on her. Eljah can be tender.” She’d rarely truly match herself against Kifu except to learn, but Kifu was the only person she wouldn’t feel bad about herself when losing a spar. Kifu would be hearing about this later.

            “Did you learn what you needed from the spar?” Kakashi asked.

            “Enough,” Kifu replied. She held out her hand. “My staff, please?” Kakashi handed it over without complaint.

            Remy eyed the weapon. “So if my partner doesn’t show up, dat mean I’m free, or dat mean you gonna test me yourself?”

            “He’ll show up,” Kifu said firmly. “I can’t even remember where I sent Telk today. I’m surprised Kannawi knew. He has a lot of land to cover.”

            It didn’t take long for the four of them to settle into a comfortable wait. Kakashi pulled out his little book again. Remy walked over to Eljah, sat down beside her, and chatted with her. Kifu simultaneously looked out for Telk and Kannawi while watching Takki to ensure he wasn’t cutting any corners. The kid was working vigilantly, concentration plain on his face as he worked. Kifu was impressed with his resolve.

            Before long, the two the group was waiting on showed up. Takki was just beginning to wrap up his exercises, and Kifu was confident he would end them with as much vigor as he began. When Takki had a goal in mind, he was disciplined enough to accomplish it, even if he acted mindless more often than not.

            Kannawi looked exasperated. “I’m sorry it took so long. Telk was where the river and mountains meet.”

            “What’s going on?” Telk asked. He took in the two newcomers, sizing them up. Telk was by no means a large man. He was tall, but very lithe, with muscle more sinew than meat. He never had a hard expression on his face, unlike Kifu, but almost appeared jovial. He was also one of, if not the most, dangerous people in all of the Air Tribe. Telk was the one and only Tribesmember Kifu had ever sparred that she could not best. She felt better in knowing that if anything was to go awry, Telk would be there to help her out. While she held the title in the Tribe, Telk was an unofficial back-up to her authority simply because she asked.

            “Telk, meet Kakashi and Remy,” Kifu said, gesturing to each man in turn. Telk was taller than Kakashi, but a tick shorter than Remy. “They’re our new Tribesmembers.”

            “Oh yeah?” Telk had the decency to keep from looking surprised.

            Kakashi took his eyes away from the book and offered Telk a small bow. “Good to meet you,” he said. Remy remained oblivious, still talking with Eljah on the ground.

            “Likewise,” Telk said.

            Kifu motioned for Telk to join her out of everyone else’s earshot. He obliged, following her for the short distance. “I’m working on assessing them. I’ve already told Neto to be wary of them. They are both wildcards with very dangerous backgrounds.”

            Telk nodded. “That’s something, coming from you.”

            “Kakashi’s polite, follows rules. Remy toes the line of propriety and threatens to leave. I’ve tested Kakashi against Eljah and he did what I would do with any Tribesling. It wasn’t that he was playing with her, I just think he didn’t feel she was worth exerting energy over. He allowed her plenty of time to find a hole in his defenses until he decided to end the spar. Everything was his terms. I wanted Kannawi to test Remy. And I wanted you here in case something went wrong.”

            “What sort of thing do you expect?” Telk asked.

            “I don’t know, exactly. I almost expect Remy to live up to his threats of leaving. Telk, the thing is, neither of them claim they’re of this world. They don’t know what’s outside of the Tribe. I don’t know what the means for us.”

            “So they just showed up in the middle of our territory?”

            Kifu shrugged. “I guess? One other thing. When Kakashi was holding Eljah off, Remy told me Kakashi’s an assassin. These two don’t know each other just as much as we don’t know them. I bring this up because he said it unprompted, of his own accord, and it’s still bothering me.” She took in a deep breath and lowered her voice further. “And look, I know I’m a killer and I’m one of the few people in all the Tribes that has killed, but that was never out of cold blood. Killing Kumji messed me up for years. If Kakashi really is an assassin, we have no idea how many kills that puts on his hands, or how much it’s messed him up. His mask is better than mine.”

            “I think that’s something we’ll have to worry about if it ever comes to it,” Telk said. “Have you asked him about it?”

            “No.”

            “Has he said anything that backs up this other guy’s theory?”

            “Well, I told him that he’s been broken and asked to protect and it cracked through that mask he holds. So that meant something to him. He’s also mentioned that he lived in a village before this that took commissions to thrive. What if he came from a village of assassins?”

            “Then maybe he has the discipline to know when and when not to kill, and whom to kill. Assassins don’t kill wantonly,” Telk pointed out. “I don’t really think it’s worth worrying over. If we worried about killers, we’d have executed you fifteen years ago.”

            “But what if it’s anything like Kumji’s organization?” Kifu asked. “What if by inviting Kakashi into our Tribe, we’re inviting Kumji or Renza back into the Tribes?”

            Telk didn’t miss a beat. “You said they’re not from this world? I don’t think he has a group of slavers to back him up like those two.” He had a point, and it almost put a little pieces of Kifu’s worries to sleep. “We’ll finish up these evaluations, get back to the Tribe, and talk with Neto about it. We’ll let Neto decide what to ultimately do with them. It’s his job, not yours.”

            “I did take responsibility for them.”

            “I don’t think it matters.” He cleared his throat and returned his voice to its normal volume. “Your apprentice is finished, and Kannawi looks thoroughly uncomfortable.”

            Indeed, Kannawi shuffled from foot to foot, shifting his gaze between the four groups of people all around him. Kakashi didn’t make a move to talk to him, but continued reading from his book. Takki, almost if on cue, nearly skipped up to Kifu after finishing his exercises. “I win.”

            Kifu nodded. “Good job. First we watch Kannawi and Remy.”

            Kannawi’s expression shifted to one of alarm. “You – what?”

            Kifu slowly strode back over to where Kakashi and Kannawi stood, Telk and Takki in tow. “I will have you test out our new Tribemember’s combative abilities. Eljah already tested Kakashi.” She motioned for Eljah to join their reforming group.

            “The spar between Kakashi and Eljah had the typical parameters where one shall not maim nor kill. Kakashi added that Eljah should attack as if intending to kill and may use any weapon she wished. Which was a little contradictory, but I guess that just kept me on my toes.” Kakashi lowered his book, refocusing on Kifu’s words rather than written words. “You may set whatever parameters you so choose, as may Remy.”

            Remy shrugged as he pulled to a stop next to Kannawi. “I don’ much care, chasseuse. Da rules’a da first spar work fer me, too.” He grinned and looked down at Kannawi. “I hopin’ you got a li’l bit’a fight in you, mon ami. Gimme a li’l somet’in’ ta t’ink about, ya?”

            Kannawi blinked. “What?” Remy’s accent was thick, and even Kifu was still struggling to keep up with it. Kannawi stood almost no chance.

            Remy simply clapped him on the back and chuckled. “Ready, Madame Kifu?”

            “Whenever you are. Kannawi?” Kifu held up her staff to him, questioning whether or not he wished to use it. He held up his hand to decline, and stepped away from the group in preparation. Remy followed, wigging his fingers and cracking his knuckles in preparation.

            “I hope Kannawi fares better than me,” Eljah grumbled. She stood beside Kifu, almost brushing shoulders with her. “That was embarrassing.”

            Kifu looked over to Kakashi. He still held his book in front of him, but his eye was completely on the two men readying themselves to spar. “Elj, you have nothing to be embarrassed about. That man is a master.”

            “Yeah, that makes me feel so much better,” Eljah said sarcastically. “Thanks.”

            “He knows things combatively that I’ve never encountered,” Kifu continued, her voice low. “You did your best, and I appreciate you for that. I learned a lot.”

            Eljah grumbled incoherently to herself. Takki settled on the ground, watching Remy and Kannawi with rapt attention. Telk centered himself over a wide stance and crossed his arms before him. Kifu played with the grain of wood in her staff, watching to learn as much as she could about the second stranger.

            Remy held up one arm between himself and Kannawi and grinned. “Show me whatcha got, mon ami.”

            Kannawi wasted no time. He was faster than Eljah, and much lighter on his feet. He focused on upper body movements to disarm his opponents, keeping his feet moving underneath him rather than using his legs as built-in weapons. His punches were fast, his eyes were keen, and he did a fairly decent job of judging his opponents reactions.

            His first punch hit. Remy moved a little too late, and rather than getting clipped in the jaw, was smacked in the shoulder. He’d be able to shrug it off easily. His expression, however, displayed a full array of surprise. Kifu wondered if the man that talked so arrogantly about himself had perhaps overestimated himself. Remy took a few more hits, deflecting them and moving just enough so that they didn’t hit on target. His face was completely readable. Confusion took over surprise.

            “Yer not what I was expectin’, mon ami,” Remy said. His voice was a little tighter than before. “But I’m not movin’ right either.” Kakashi’s eye widened minutely. Kifu caught it out of the corner of her eye, and turned her head just in time to miss a flurry of movement from Remy.

            Remy successfully blocked two of Kannawi’s punches, threw a couple of his own to throw Kannawi off his roll, and executed a tight backflip to put distance between him and his opponent. Spinning once, his coat flaring around him, Remy suddenly had a metallic staff in his hand and moved to attack Kannawi with it.

            Kifu moved before she even registered what was happening. Her hand let go of her own staff to give her added mobility to cover the distance. She had no idea where he pulled the staff from, but she could tell within a fraction of a second that Remy would not have any problem using the staff to its full potential, and that he knew how to wield it. Kifu sprinted over the short distance between the onlookers and the sparring couple, threw herself between the two bodies and held up both of her arms. The staff hit her first arm with an incredible force, and Kifu was well aware that it would have shattered her bone if not for her arm guards. There was no way Kannawi could have reacted fast enough to register the staff and protect himself if Kifu hadn’t been watching Remy as closely as she had. Kifu’s knees buckled, but she didn’t fall.

            “Enough,” she growled. She shoved the staff away from her body, back at Remy. “This fight is over.” She paced forward so that she was uncomfortably close to Remy. “You were not to injure Kannawi,” she snarled lowly. “You could have killed him with that stunt.”

            Remy flashed a smile down at her. “You’re impressive, chasseuse.”

            “No cheeky comments,” Kifu barked. “Kannawi was defenseless against that attack and you knew it.” She backed off, turning so that Kannawi was in her line of sight, but not letting Remy out of her field of vision either. She held up her arm and rubbed it, as if she could massage the sting from her flesh. The force of Remy’s blow against her guards was jarring. It didn’t matter how much padding she had on her forearms. “You okay?” she asked Kannawi.

            Kannawi looked stunned. “Uh …”

            Throwing one more threatening glare in Remy’s direction, Kifu stalked back to where she had been watching the spar. Telk looked almost as surprised as Kannawi. Kakashi’s expression was unreadable, as was becoming the norm. Takki looked awed. Eljah’s expression was a mixture of surprise and relief.

            “I’ve never seen you run so fast!” Takki exclaimed once Kifu was near.

            Kifu ignored him and went right up to Telk, close enough so that no one else could hear her. “He did that on purpose. Whether or not it was to goad me into moving is debatable.”

            “He’s lucky he didn’t hurt Kannawi,” Telk said. “Where did he even have that staff?”

            Kifu turned around to study Remy. He still held his staff and was using it as if it were a walking stick. “I’m not sure. Something was off about his fighting style, though. I could tell by his own reaction. It took time to build up to that flashing move at the end. We need to watch him.” Telk nodded his understanding and Kifu stepped away to kick her own staff into her hand.

            “Is it my turn now?” Takki asked, rising to his feet.

            Kifu sighed. “I suppose.” She handed her staff over to Eljah, who took it without word. Kannawi was slowly returning to the group. His eyes were still wide and it looked to Kifu like he was having a difficult time processing how quickly that spar could have ended in disaster. Remy remained where Kifu had left him.

            “Your job is to land one punch,” Kifu instructed Takki. She slowly started walking away from the main group, allowing a couple paces between her and them. Dealing with Takki’s bet wasn’t something she wanted to do, but she was a woman of her promise. “That’s it. I’ll give you your fair shot, and if you succeed, I’ll start training you in defensive combat. You fail and we continue our current training regimen.”

            Takki nodded enthusiastically.

            “You agree to quit pestering me should you fail?” Kifu asked. Takki had a habit of repeating questions he didn’t like the answer to. She also had more important things to worry about than training her apprentice in such a demanding practice.

            Takki, again, nodded just as enthusiastically. “I won’t fail.” Had Kifu been in a better mood, she may have smiled.

            “You have five witnesses,” Kifu said, gesturing to the group of adults around them. She bent her knees and fell into a more athletic stance. “You may begin.”

            Kifu didn’t think she’d need to do much by way of moving, though she wasn’t entirely sure what her method would be yet. Takki was an overeager youth, but discipline and planning were far from his strengths. He started by charging her head on. Kifu simply stepped out of his way, keeping her body low on light toes.

            “You need to refrain from being too obvious,” Kifu told him. She turned to face him as he spun on his feet, barely keeping his balance.

            Instead of frustration or temper, Takki looked like he was concentrating hard. He swung at Kifu, moving his fist in a wide arc. Kifu brought up her closest arm, hooked it on his forearm, and deflected it from her body.

            “In addition, you’ll need to work on speed.”

            Takki tried with his other hand. As he brought his first fist back to his body, he punched upward. Aiming for her face rather than her torso. Kifu stepped back. “Better,” she told him.

            Following Kifu, stepping forward again, Takki tried over and over again to land a hit. Kifu avoided everything he tried.

            “Want this?” Eljah asked from the sidelines. She held up Kifu’s staff. “Gives ya better reach, kid.”

            “Eljah,” Kifu said, exasperated. Eljah knew as well as Kifu that adding a weapon to Takki’s attacks wasn’t going to make him any better or more efficient.

            Takki paused, contemplating. Kifu waited, holding her stance firm. Her job wasn’t to attack, merely to defend. Eventually, Takki nodded. “Yeah I think I do.” Eljah tossed the staff without hesitation. Kifu stepped forward to snatch it out of the air before Takki had a chance, and then handed it over. Takki hadn’t prepared to catch it, and would have given himself a knock over the head if she hadn’t intervened. Taking a couple steps back, Kifu prepared to defend herself against the staff rather than his fists.

            Takki had no idea how to hold the staff. His balance was off, and he wasn’t used to the weight of the wood. Still, he tried. He opted for a grip that would give him one good swing, but where his follow-through would fall short. Kifu batted the swing aside, further throwing him off his balance. “Maybe you should stick to hand-to-hand,” she suggested. Just for that comment, Takki recovered and swung again, though with his grip, even if he landed a hit, it wouldn’t have any force behind it.

            Kifu tapped on Dragon on her hip. “Would you like to instead try a knife? You’re going to hurt yourself with the staff.”

            “And a knife will be better?” Takki asked. He tossed the staff to the side so that it wouldn’t tangle up in his feet. Even his amateur opinion coincided with Kifu’s.

            “It’s lighter,” Kifu explained.

            Takki eyed Kifu with a fair measure of distrust as Kifu untied the shaft from the sheath. Pulling it out, she flipped it in her hand, catching it by the blade. Stepping forward, she offered it to Takki. She didn’t like people touching her knife. Even considering whom she received it from, she was very fond of the weapon. So long as it didn’t leave her sight, she felt like she could deal with letting it go for a minute.

            Hesitating, Takki tentatively reached out and grabbed the hilt. As soon as his fingers were wrapped around it, he pulled it rather quickly away from her. She wasn’t sure what she’d ever done to Takki to make him fear her like that. He weighed Dragon in his hand, shifting it to get a feel for it. He was much better off with the smaller weapon than the clunky staff, already considering it more of an extension of himself than the long range weapon.

            Once Takki had an idea of how to use Dragon, he looked up at her with a little concern. “You’re not gonna hurt me,” Kifu assured him. “I won’t let you.”

            “This thing is ridiculously sharp,” Takki argued. He’d tested the edge of the blade against his finger.

            Kifu nodded. “I’m aware.” She could hear Eljah snicker even with the distance between them.

            “Trust me, kid,” Telk said, “she won’t let you hurt her if she doesn’t want you to. Show us what you got.”

            Taking in a deep breath, Takki threw a modified punch, leading with the blade of the knife. Kifu blocked him with her forearm, letting the arm guard take the blade. “You’re going to need more confidence if you’re to win this,” she told him. “You do not have the luxury of wavering in a true fight.”

            Takki gritted his teeth, pulling the blade back to his body. His expression displaying all of the concentration he could muster, he tried a flurry of attacks. To Kifu, he looked like a dancing noodle, but Takki probably thought he looked pretty neat. Kifu deflected his fist with her hand, Dragon with her arm guard. She stepped when he did, allowing him to control the tone of the fight rather than take over.

            She was aware of Remy yawning.

            “That was better,” Kifu told Takki. “But you might want to think about how you’re attacking and what I might do in turn.” She glanced over at Telk and Eljah. “I think I’ve given you your shot. We need to get back to the Tribe so that I can continue running it.” She sighed, a frown tugging at her lips.

            Takki visibly deflated. But he did listen. Settling his stance, he handed Dragon back to Kifu and walked back to the group with slumped shoulders. Kifu watched him wordlessly as she tied Dragon back into its sheath. Takki would get combative training eventually, but it wasn’t something she liked to open with. He hadn’t been her apprentice for long.

            “Ready, all?” Kifu asked the six people around her.

            “What’s next, chasseuse?” Remy asked in turn.

            “First? My job. I need to assign evening tasks to the Tribe. We also get a very well deserved dinner.”

            “Dinner?” Remy echoed. “Ain’t it only ‘round noon?”

            Kifu found herself scrunching her eyebrows in confusion. “It’s midday meal,” she explained. She wasn’t sure what else Remy could be hung up on. She gestured forward, toward the mountains. “Let’s get going.”

            Kannawi and Takki led the way back. Remy fell in step behind them, still talking with Eljah. Kifu waited for Kakashi to follow, and brought up the rear with Telk.

            “Do you perhaps know what t’ieves mean?” Kifu asked him quietly. “Remy said he was raised by t’ieves, not assassins. But I don’t know what the means.”

            “Don’t you think you’re overanalyzing this?” Telk said with a small smirk.

            Kifu frowned at him. “I’m trying to stay on my toes,” she rebutted. “Kids? Kids I can deal with. Adults that Mai has trained from childhood. Bring it on. Other Tribes’ adults. I’d rather not. But these are my charges that I have to deal with and Mai hasn’t even met them.”

            “You’re not solely responsible,” Telk told her. “Don’t worry. I’ve got your back.”

            “And I appreciate that,” Kifu said quickly. “I just don’t want any surprises. And Neto will want to know everything.”

            “I can help with that, too,” Telk said with a wink. “Not to mention Eljah. She’s been around them longer than me.”

            Kifu continued frowning, still running the word in question through her mind. She felt like it was a very important word, but she didn’t have a clue what it was.

            Telk offered her one more consoling smile before he climbed the ranks to lead the group with Kannawi and Takki. Kifu brought up the rear alone.

            They moved slowly, taking their time. The other six didn’t have anywhere else to be. Technically, even Kifu didn’t have to be in the camp to personally hand out evening tasks, and the Tribe could run itself for a day or two. Sometimes, Kifu left it to do just that.

            “I am an assassin,” Kakashi said to Kifu. The two of them were separate from the rest of the group as Kifu walked in thought. She started and nearly tripped when Kakashi came up beside her and spoke. “I was a captain of a four man assassin squad that worked directly under our village leader. We carried out the village’s dirty work and missions that needed kept silent.”

            “What – why …?” Kifu stammered.

            “I heard Remy bring it up, and you to Telk,” Kakashi explained. He somehow knew exactly what Kifu was trying to ask, but her brain was too slow to formulate. “Our village came first. Missions were to be completed successfully at all costs.” He paused as he held eye contact with her. “But I would never allow a comrade to die. Those who abandon their mission are scum. But those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum,” he explained, reciting it almost as if it were a mantra.

            Kifu wasn’t sure what to say. She wasn’t expecting such forthright information from Kakashi.

            He must have sensed her vocabulary’s abandonment. “I appreciate your resolve to protect your Tribe and your comrades. It really showed when Remy was testing you in his spar against Kannawi. It does no good to distrust one you should be depending on. That is why I’m telling you this.”

            Even though Kifu was having a difficult time coming up with words she felt were proper for the situation, Kakashi didn’t leave Kifu behind like Telk. He walked patiently beside her, keeping his eye forward.

            “I appreciate you telling me that,” Kifu told him eventually. “I find it important to know where everyone is coming from.”

            “I see that,” Kakashi said with a big smile. Because most of his face was covered, the smile transferred all the way to his exposed eye. It almost looked as if his eye was smiling as well. “Some of the tricks that worked in my home world won’t work in this one, though,” he said, his expression relaxing. “In our world, we manipulated a personal energy called chakra. It doesn’t exist here. I don’t need chakra to be effective, but it does put me a slight disadvantage as opposed to my home world.”

            Kifu considered his words with a perplexed expression. “What did chakra allow you to do?” she asked.

            Kakashi sighed, his eye forward once more. “In my world, we had what’s called chakra nature. Air, earth, fire, water, and lightening. We could manipulate our chakra to its nature, and essentially use it as if we were using that element. I developed a move called chidori – or lightening blade. It was using my energy to manipulate a blade made of lightening.”

            “So it was magic,” Kifu said flatly.

            Kakashi raised a brow at her.

            “The stories detailing our gods have magic in them,” Kifu explained. “Some of them have powers like that.”

            “You believe in deities?” Kakashi asked, genuinely interested.

            Kifu nodded. “My original home didn’t. It took a little getting used to when I was taken in by the Air Tribe, and the seniors especially mentioning their gods. There’s twelve total. Three belong to the Air Tribe and look over us. My god is Libra.” Kifu pointed to the symbol sewn into her head band. It represented her god. “Libra is a fair god that tries to balance everything she does. I appreciated her diplomacy while she tried to mediate the world, as well as her ability to constantly deal with people, which is one of my shortcomings.”

            Kifu gestured to Eljah ahead of them. “Eljah’s god is Aquarius. She’s an incredibly smart god that constantly picks the world apart around her and adapts to it. Eljah is as adaptive as her god, but doesn’t share Aquarius’s shortcomings where she needs to be alone.

            “The last god of the Air Tribe is Gemini. Gemini is actually two separate personalities in one being. Gemini is less boisterous that Aquarius, but is incredibly curious and communicative.

            “We like to use our gods as role models, choosing the god we feel like would best benefit the direction we’d like our lives to go. We’re not held to follow the same god our entire lives, but I’ve never felt like switching loyalties.”

            Kifu glanced at Kakashi’s headband, worn askew across his face. “Is there any meaning to yours?”

            Kakashi ran his fingers across the metal plate. “Konohagakure,” he said simply. “It’s the symbol for the village I live in and work for. The headband is a symbol of a ninja. Konoha ninja earn it after graduating from the academy.”

            Kifu was enjoying her conversation with Kakashi so much, she hadn’t realized how close they were to camp. They didn’t have any more time to continue their conversation before the path turned single file. She stumbled for a second to keep from crashing over rocks, and then fell back into step behind Kakashi.

            It appeared that Kakashi had been raised into a life of violence. It wasn’t that the Tribes tried to do the same thing, but the end result was the same. In order to live, they had to fight for their existence. Kifu didn’t want to get too comfortable too quickly, but she didn’t think the Air Tribe had too much to fear from Kakashi. Perhaps it would be best if someone else watched over him as he acclimated to the Tribe.

            Now Kifu needed to learn more about Remy. Kakashi hadn’t given her much time to think about what t’ieves meant, but the mystery was still unsolved.

            “Good news, Kifu,” the woman guarding the entrance to the camp said as Kifu neared. She was small in stature, but with enough wiry muscle to make up for her lack of mass.

            “Rimana?” Kifu asked, pausing before her. Kakashi, along with the rest of the group, continued forward.

            “Sachi returned with a deer. They’re preparing it in the camp now.”

            Kifu offered her a warm smile. “That is good news. So quickly after Telk’s last deer a couple days ago, too. We’ll have plenty of food for a while. Thank the Air.”

            “Much better than the bitter plants we sometimes get from the Water Tribe,” Rimana said.

            Kifu chuckled. “We still need to eat those, too. Come, join us in the camp and eat dinner.”

            Rimana had no problems in leaving her post with the little bit of prompting. She immediately joined Sachi and Sinowe in taking apart the deer to preserve it.

            Kifu took a long glance around the center camp. Sachi, probably with Sinowe’s help, had hung the deer between the Hunter and Warrior huts, as it was really the only sturdy place they could do so. Sinowe had left the water he’d been sent to fetch from the river near the fire. Kams was probably still out hunting, but he hunters knew to return around sun high.

            The elders, children, and Mai, were still all hidden from sight. So was Būks, as was typical for him. Kifu had no idea what the man did all day, but he rarely hung around center camp during daylight. Then Neto simply hardly left his hut at all.

            Telk was standing uncomfortably near the camp’s peripheral. Eljah was checking in on Sachi and Sinowe. Kannawi immediately returned to the hide he’d abandoned to find Telk. Takki had already managed to disappear. Which left Remy and Kakashi. Kakashi had pulled out his book again while Remy seemed to be putting as much distance between him and the dead deer.

            Kifu first decided to talk to Telk. “Would you please fill in Neto?” she said. “And please ask him what he thinks a t’ieves is.”

            “You’re still thinking about that?” Telk asked, exasperated.

            “Well, yeah.”

            “Are you ever going to let it drop?”

            “Not until I know what it is. Oh – and tell Neto that I really, really don’t think we have anything to worry about with Kakashi. At least, in my opinion.”

            “Just Kakashi?”

            “They’re both dangerous, but Kakashi respects us. Remy wants to test us.” As if reminded by her words, Kifu began taking off her arm guards. She didn’t expect to need them any longer. They were beginning to get a little sensitive where they’d dug into her arms when she’d stopped Remy’s strike. “That still worries me.

            “But be sure to give him your opinion, too,” Kifu added brightly.

            She watched Telk’s back as he walked the corridor to reach Neto’s hut through the retired Tribesmember’s part of camp. She held both of her arm guards in one hand once they were off, her staff in the other. As soon as shadow touched Telk, she turned her attention to Remy.

            “Are you afraid of dead things?” she asked him.

            He blinked, taking his time in processing what she’d said. “No, I’m not afraid. I’s jus’ … not somet’in’ I see e’ryday.”

            Kifu nodded, as if she understood what he’d said. No matter where she’d lived, she always knew what a felled animal meant.

            “I guess dat’s why you a chasseuse, eh?”

            “Every time you’ve called me that, I haven’t known what you’re talking about,” Kifu admitted.

            “I’s French. For hunter. You a hunter, ney?”

            “Yes. At least, I was before I was promoted to this position. I don’t get to go out much anymore.” She missed it. When she was hunting, she got to have uninterrupted time to herself. She missed having to think her way through the Tribe’s next meal and exercise all the training she’d received as an apprentice under Kumji.

            “Why dat?”

            “I have to look out for everyone else first,” Kifu told him, as if it were obvious. “I need to be easy to find in case something goes wrong.”

            “Like today?”

            “I wouldn’t say today went wrong, but yes.”

            Remy flashed her a smile. “You gonna lighten up now dat you got a li’l test on Kakashi an’ me?”

            “Nope,” Kifu replied with her own half smile. “I don’t lighten up for anyone. By the way, what does t’ieves mean?”

            Remy chuckled out loud. “How long you been sittin’ on dat, chasseuse?” he laughed. “Mon dieu, you tryin’ too hard. T’ieves, chasseuse. Y’know, people dat steal t’ings for fun ‘er for money? Yeah, I’m one’a da best. No use in bein’ quiet ‘bout it ‘round here, t’ough. Ain’t not’in’ worth stealin’. An’ it not gonna make your opinion any better ‘er worse den it already is ‘bout me.”

            “Yeah mean – thieves?” Kifu asked, nearly choking. His accent was so difficult to understand sometimes, she didn’t realize it had been a simple word.

            “You bein’ extra critical on me ‘cuz I ain’t no uptight brown noser like some, chasseuse. Truth is, I grew up on da wrong side’a da law, dat’s all. I worked fer heroes af’er all dat. Di’n’t steal much no more. T’ing wit’ cops, is dey ain’t go no trackers ‘cept fer some dogs an’ da like. I wanna see how I match agains’ a pro.” He nudged her with his elbow to further his jest. “Geez, chasseuse. You jumpin’ at ghosts, n’est-ce pas?”

            “I’m glad you think this is funny, because I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Kifu muttered.

            “Shame, ‘cuz I’m pretty funny.”

            Kifu threw him a sidelong glance, running her tongue over her bottom lip. “So what do you think so far?” she asked him.         

             “’A you?” Remy asked back.

            “No. Of the Tribes. I don’t care what you might think of me.”

            Remy’s brows jumped up for a moment, settling immediately back down. “Mmm, you feelin’ mighty confident. I like dat, chasseuse.” He held up a hand before she could protest. “Not dat you gon’ see me do anyt’in’ ‘bout it, hein? I ain’t no liar, jus’ as I ain’t no assassin.” He threw her a wink. “An’ I don’ expect you ta believe me none, too. I know better’n dat.”

            Kifu frowned at his words. Sure, Remy was being vague on purpose, withholding information from her like it was some sort of game. But she was starting to pick up a pattern. Perhaps he’d been pushed into that kind of behavior throughout his life. Like he trusted someone and they stabbed him so deep in the back, he felt like he had to act that way. Using this excuse for his behavior really opened up Kifu’s eyes. She didn’t think he was being deceitful at all. Simply overprotective of himself. Maybe this man had experiences worse than Kifu could ever imagine, let alone what she had lived through.

            Adults were much more difficult to work out than children.

            “Your Tribe? Not sure I like it. Y’all do da same t’ing over an’ over e’ry day, am I right? No TV, no bars an’ clubs, jus’ wanderin’ ‘round tryin’a keep yerselves alive. I ain’t tryin’a burst yer bubble, chasseuse, but I’m used ta a lot faster paced life. Kinda liked it.”

            Kifu’s frown deepened. “I hate to slow you down, but there’s only so much that I can do here. I’ll get you and Kakashi worked into the Tribe, and then your life is yours to live.”

            “Stuck here,” Remy added.

            “I might be able to work on that. I told you how the Tribes scavenge? I might be able to get you on one of those teams. It’s going to take a while. We need to build a trust with you. But once we have that, you’re welcome to wander on our behalf.”

            The side of Remy’s mouth twitched. “I appreciate how much yer tryin’, ma copain,” Remy said eventually.

            “Then work with me, Remy,” she said. “Don’t try and kill my best friend. Don’t run off to see what will happen. Show that we can trust you - that you can work as a part of the Tribe - and we’ll do everything we can for you.”

            Remy said nothing, but stared ahead with an intensity that Kifu hadn’t yet seen from him.

            “It’ll take time, but it’s a possibility. I’m sorry your world fell out from beneath your feet and you ended up here. But I hope that you can make the best of it.”

            “Merci, chasseuse,” Remy said quietly. “I appreciate yer tryin’.”

            Kifu sighed. “Any time you need to talk to someone, I can listen. Or Būks, our healer. That man has taken care of many of my worries throughout my life. I’m assuming something you did before you ended up here is tying you up. I won’t judge you if you need it off your shoulders.”

            Remy barked a laugh at this. There was no pleasantry to it, but scorn. “Ain’t gonna work, sorry. You good at gettin’ ta people, I give ya dat.” He turned his eyes on to her. “But if der one t’ing I learned, it dat you gotta hold your secrets close an’ let people t’ink what dey wanna of ya. I un’erstand if dis makes my bein’ here difficult, but it worked enough wit’ my team b’fore.”

            Kifu blinked rapidly at his sudden demeanor change. Someone did something terrible to him, she was sure of it. What, however, she would probably never know. It was possible Remy had done something unforgiveable in his life to earn someone’s spurn. And she was certain she was okay with it. Remy obviously regretted whatever it was that he had done, and it wasn’t because of how he was treated. Kifu knew that feeling well. Because of this, she was starting to feel more comfortable with him being around.

            “Okay,” she said. “I understand. I have my secrets, too, and I’m second in command here.” Granted, Neto knew all of her secrets, as did Eljah, but the rest of the Tribe was completely in the dark about everything she had done.

            Remy hummed softly to himself. “Bien sûr.”

            Kifu nodded, as if a matter had been solved. “I encourage you to mingle with the other Tribesmembers. Get some food. I need some time to think, and I absolutely cannot get any thinking done in the camp.”

            “Jus’ like dat, ‘get some food’?” Remy asked skeptically.

            “Yeah. We feed our people. The retired and the apprentices are cooking. I don’t want you exploring outside of center camp until I think things over, but you can ask anyone to bring you food. I’d stick with Eljah or Kannawi, but make sure someone gets food for you.

            “For now, the goal is to learn about us. New recruits usually follow Mai around for many seasons learning about the Tribes and our customs. We aren’t doing that to you, so you’re stuck with socializing yourself.”

            “An’ why me an’ Kakashi special, hein?”

            “I think you’re smart enough to figure that one out yourself, Remy,” Kifu said. She gestured toward the few people in center camp. “I also think you’re well-versed in socializing, so I’ll leave you to it.”

            Kifu offered him no goodbye when she left him. She made a beeline to where Kakashi was standing. He lowered his book and watched her as she approached.

            “Is everything all right?” Kakashi asked her.

            She nodded. “Fine. I actually just had a little heart-to-heart with Remy there. I think I’m beginning to understand him.”

            She sighed. Remy was a thief. Kakashi was an assassin. Maybe she was better off not understanding anything.

            “I need to figure some things out. I was telling Remy over there that we can’t treat you two as normal recruits. We don’t generally admit adults. They … don’t understand us. The Tribes. I also can’t do any thinking in this camp. So I’m going to leave you to socialize yourself. The apprentices and retired will serve food shortly. Have someone bring you some food. I do ask that you confine yourself to center camp until I figure out how to deal with this situation.”

            Kifu gestured toward his book. “I see you’re completely able to occupy yourself. But I think it would help you immensely if you talked with someone other than me. Of course, that’s up to you.”

            Kakashi watched her with passive interest. Even when she stopped talking, he offered her no words.

            “Is this a good plan?” Kifu asked him.

            “I can’t say I was very social in Konohagakure,” Kakashi said, “and that I will be here.”

            Kifu blinked hard. Neither of these men were helping. Both were baffling in their own ways. “Ask someone about what they do here or something,” she instructed. She held out her hand. “Give me that in your hand as insurance.”

            “My book?” Kakashi asked. “That won’t be necessary,” he assured her quickly after. He tucked the book into the pouch on his hip. Kifu swore he had a little more color to his face.

            “Very well. Do try to enjoy yourself. I’ll be back as soon as I get my head on straight.”

            Again, without another word as goodbye, Kifu left Kakashi standing empty-handed, and headed toward the camp exit.

            She had a place down by the river bordering the Water Tribe that she liked to go. A tree had fallen years ago that she used to sit on as a kid. By now, the felled tree had rotted, but Kifu still enjoyed the spot. She always worked everything out that she needed worked out by the water. Even better at night.

Chapter Text

            Remy sighed heavily. Obviously, if he had had a choice in the matter, he wouldn’t be where he was. The transitions between worlds truly happened in an eye blink. One moment, he was enjoying his well-deserved alone time in the mansion. He hadn’t quite made it to the liquors, but he intended to work his way in that direction. First, he wanted to shower the day’s earned sweat away from his body. He was on his way to the showers when – blink – he was in the middle of luscious mountain valley with a silver-haired nincompoop beside him and two bewildered half-naked men staring at him suspiciously. Great times.

            Getting swept up by Kifu and brought to the tribe’s camp almost felt like a form of slavery. Remy knew all about debts and what they sometimes incurred. Debts were a little like slavery, too. Except, here, Remy had no debts to these people. He wasn’t entirely convinced that he needed to stay. Yet, on the other hand, what was the alternative? The place was primitive. Remy had no experience in primitive. On the streets as a working child thief, on his own as a working teenage bodyguard, absolutely. Primitive wilderness, absolutely not. Even the whole Antarctica ordeal wasn’t quite akin to this situation.

            Remy wagered that if he did manage to wander off, and Kifu couldn’t hold to the promise that she would find him and kill him like they were characters in some sort of awful action movie, he’d die anyway. He didn’t know what the chances of a real civilization popping up in his path would be. He was stuck, but he didn’t have to let Kifu know that.

            Problem was, Kifu’s personality was enough to keep him interested. She was a strong woman character, and that never led to a bad story in Remy’s book. Well, disregarding Belladonna, but that wasn’t Belladonna’s fault. Remy’s normal tactics wouldn’t work with the wild woman. A death threat on that count was taking it a little too far if you asked him, but it led to some interesting questions. The main, obvious one being, what had been done to Kifu to make her strike out so violently? Remy was a little too busy reorienting himself for the moment, but he was sure he’d make a fun game out of toeing her lines and seeing exactly which borders he could soften.

            Playing with Kifu wasn’t going to be entertaining enough, however. Remy wasn’t cracking a joke when he told her that life in the tribes was going to be boring. Arts and crafts were not Remy’s style. Flitting around a group of a couple dozen people was going to get old much too fast. He wasn’t seeing how his skills would be put to use. No one else really seemed to care for Remy’s skills, with two great exceptions, but it was those skills that gave him his thrills.

            Maybe I jus’ click my heels tagether t’ree times an’ say “der ain’t no place like home” wit’ my eyes close, dis’ll all pass, Remy thought to himself woefully. Sure got da shit end’a da stick on dis one, Remy.

            Remy glanced across the camp’s center at Kakashi. Kifu was already done with the quiet masked man and was on her way down the mountain to who knew where. He vividly remembered her saying that she needed to be easy to find “in case something goes wrong.” Her needs fell below the needs of the tribe, or something like that. He didn’t think her traipsing off, after bringing him and Kakashi to her tribe’s stronghold, was a very good example of her word. But who was Remy to judge?

            Kakashi appeared decidedly lost, his book missing from his hands. His single eye wandered slowly around the camp, casually observing everyone and everything around him. Remy didn’t trust him. Then again, Remy hardly trusted anyone at all. Kifu hadn’t asked Remy to trust Kakashi. And that thought led Remy to wondering why it mattered if Kifu asked of anything from Remy. Just because Scott led the X-Men more often than not didn’t mean that Remy offered him more than a second thought. Starting out with the group, Remy only did what Ororo asked of him, no one else.

            Remy supposed he didn’t look any less awkward than Kakashi, standing where he was and watching without interest as he lost himself in his own head. It was better to not stick out like a sore thumb and assimilate.

            Kannawi was the easiest to engage. He was alone, absorbed in his work. Eljah, being the only other person he knew outside of Kannawi and Kakashi, was still hanging around the corpse of the deer with a few people he hadn’t been introduced to. Remy didn’t feel like the cheery atmosphere of a dead animal was perfect for striking up conversation.

            Remy sat decisively next to Kannawi, leaning over the hide just enough to be engaging. The hide was another dead thing, but it was becoming apparent to Remy that dead things were going to be difficult to evade in the tribes. So long as Remy wasn’t asked to kill things, he could get over it. He guessed.

            “Bonjour,” Remy greeted Kannawi cheerfully.

            Kannawi’s concentration on the hide broke briefly. He looked at Remy through the top of his brow. “What?”

            “I’s … y’know, never mind. Y’all need a li’l culture in yer lives, mon ami.”

            The look of confusion on Kannawi’s face deepened. “I … I don’t understand,” he said slowly.

            “Mon dieu,” Remy muttered softly, breaking his eye contact from Kannawi to say so. “T’ings don’t get upset here much, hein?” he asked Kannawi.

            Kannawi opened his mouth and lightly shook his head. Remy had the feeling it was less in response to his question and more a setting panic at not knowing what the Cajun was talking about.

            “Calm down,” Remy said softly. Kifu had been confused about what he said a couple times, but Kannawi had yet to have one sentence sunk in. “What I mean,” he articulated slowly, “is dat you an’ yer tribe ain’t used ta unusual situations, ney? Like … me. People dat speak dif’rently an’ all?”

            “Sure, we’ve had to teach some children our language here,” Kannawi said, almost as slowly as Remy.

            “I ain’t fixin’ ta change my accent ta yours. I speak yer language jus’ fine,” Remy told him. Remy’s accent came and went in his time with the X-Men, but never totally went away. Picking up a northern accent when it was around him all the time was inevitable, but some things people said up there as opposed to where Remy group up was all wrong. The tribespeople here had their own accent. Eljah’s was even different than most, but so was her skin tone.

            “I, um – okay?”

            Remy turned slightly and pitched his head forward into his hands.

            “Next topic, yah?” he suggested through the steeple of his fingers. Kannawi didn’t present any opposition. “Great. So, ‘fore I was beamed here, I was on my way t’da shower. Y’all offer anyt’in’ in personal hygiene?”

            Remy lifted his chin onto his folded hands to watch the comical display of emotion dance on Kannawi’s face.

            “You understandin’ anyt’in’ I’m sayin’, homme?”

            “N-n … no.”

            “Yeah, okay. I’m catchin’ da hint here. You keep doin’ whatever it is you doin’, capiche? I’m gonna jus’ wait ‘till Kifu comes back ‘er somet’in’.” Remy rose to his feet, uncaring of whether or not Kannawi understood any of those words. Even picking carefully through the syllables didn’t help the man. Nothing would.

            Remy sat on a log set before the empty fire pit, rubbing his forehead. Either Kifu or Kannawi had to be outside of the norm. He truly hoped it was Kannawi. Kifu and Eljah seemed to get along well, so Remy’s ability to converse with Eljah didn’t lend much toward the debate. Eljah was on Kifu’s level.

            “Sir?” a voice piped up behind Remy.

            Remy lifted his head from his hands and craned his neck to look over his shoulder. A prepubescent girl stood behind him with a bowl in her hands. Her thick, black hair was long yet well kept, draping over her shoulders down to her hips. “Me?”

            “Yes.”

            “You don’ need ta go callin’ me ‘sir,’ petite,” he said softly.

            “It’s proper,” she argued. “My name is Idai. I was told to bring you food.” She held the bowl out from her body, offering it to him.

            Remy took it gingerly, peering inside curiously. Soup. Thick soup. Of which kind, he had no clue. It appeared to have meat chunks, and vegetable chunks. Balanced. “Merci,” Remy said. It smelled good, at the very least. Bland, but edible.

            Idai glanced around her, and then took a seat beside Remy. Remy perked a brow at her, wondering what else the child would have to say to him.

            “Where’s Kifu?” Idai asked him quietly. Remy vaguely wondered if the entire tribe centered on this one person.

            “She wen’ off,” Remy offered unhelpfully.

            Idai sniffed. “Figures. Oh well, it’s better that way.”

            Remy blinked. “You two don’t get along?”

            “Sure,” Idai agreed with a wry smile. “We get along well enough. But I do breathe easier when she’s not around.”

            “Dat so?” Remy’s interested was piqued. “Why you t’ink dat, petite?”

            Idai studied him, as if gauging her answer. She struck Remy as another intelligent life form, further lending merit to Kannawi being outside of the norm. She almost reminded him of young Ororo, with that careful and watchful gaze. “She’s very hard to gain approval from,” Idai explained. “In case you’re ever wondering why you can’t get through, it’s not just you.” She stopped, though Remy had the feeling that she wanted to continue.

            He stirred the soup in his bowl, letting some of the steam roll off of the heavy liquid. The tribe didn’t have spoons like where he came from, but they did fashion something similar out of wood. It was shallower. He took a test sip and wasn’t disappointed.

            “So what yer sayin’, is dat Kifu ain’t got any friends,” Remy guessed.

            “No. She’s different around Eljah and Telk. Even Takki now,” Idai sighed.

            That meant something to Idai, Takki being closer to Kifu than her. Remy studied Idai’s defeated expression, but gleaned nothing else from it.

            “What kinda t’ings you do ‘round here for fun?” Remy asked. He may be abruptly changing the subject, but he wasn’t sure where else to go with the previous one.

            “Fun? I … I don’t know.”

            “You jus’ a chil’, petite,” Remy cried. “An’ you don’ do not’in’ fer fun?”

            “Well, I help Mai. Even when I was younger than all of the Tribeslings, I helped Mai take care of them. Mai’s like my mom.”

            “Petite. Dat i’n’t somet’in’ ya do fer fun.”

            “Well, no.”

            “Yer tellin’ me, yer life is jus’ work? You, what? Twelve? Dat ain’t an age ta start workin’ yerself ta death.” Remy didn’t have much room to talk, but at least he enjoyed his work and made games out of it. That was, once it wasn’t picking pockets simply to stay alive, and he was in the Thieves’ Guild.

            “It’s all I’ve ever known, I guess. As long as I can remember, I followed Mai around, helping her where I could. I listen to the retireds’ stories and play games with them. Most of the other Tribesmembers don’t pay attention to the kids like them, but they have time.”

            Remy frowned at Idai for a moment, and then delicately balanced his bowl of soup on one leg. Holding it steady with one hand, he used the other to pull out of one of the deck of cards he kept stashed in his coat pocket. “I t’ink I know da answer already, but you know what dis is, petite?” He pulled the fresh cards out of their carton and shuffled them with one hand.

            “No.”

            “Funny t’ing, when I was yer age, I hated dese. Dey’re playin’ cards. I t’oght dey were borin’.”

            “What changed?”

            “Life an’ death situation,” Remy explained simply. “E’er since dat, it been a tool in my arsenal. A trick up mah sleeve. Well, when I got zapped here, dat tool got taken away from me. So now, dese jus’ playin’ cards again. Ya can play a whole bunch’a games wit’ dem. Wanna learn one?”

            Idai reached out and grabbed a single card from Remy’s hand, bringing it closer to her face to study it. Remy remained silent, gently eating from his bowl of soup so that it didn’t fall to the ground. Cleaning it up from the dusty rock was not going to happen.

            “Uh, sure, I guess,” Idai eventually said. She handed back the card. Remy held out the deck for her to deposit it on top.

            “How ‘bout a game called Old Maid, eh? Nice an’ simple. Goal is ta match number ta number of da same color, d’accord?”

            “Number?” Idai questioned.

            Remy blinked. “You tellin’ me you don’ know what a number is, petite?” he asked, dumbfounded.

            Idai shook her head.

            “Okay.” He flipped the deck over to reveal the bottommost card. “Cards, dey got numbers two t’rough ten, a jack, a queen, a king, an’ an ace. Dis here is an ace. Dat innit a number, technically, but a letter.” He pointed with his thumb to the ‘A’ in the corner. “Dat’s da number ‘er letter yer tryin’ ta match. Ya follow?”

            “Yeah, I think so.”

            Remy nodded. “Each deck got four’a each. Four aces, a bit like dis. But each is a dif’rent suit.” He moved his thumb to the symbol below the ‘A’. “Dis suit here called a spade, but we ain’t gonna worry ‘bout dat in dis game, capiche? Yer jus’ matchin’ da numbers an’ letters of da same color. You know what a color is, yah?”

            Idai nodded. “Of course,” she said.

            “I mean, ya don’t know what a number is, petite. I jus’ checkin’. So der gonna be two aces dat are black, like dis. An’ der gonna be two dat are red. Once you make a match like dat, you gonna show me an’ put dem on da log b’tween us. Dey’re outta play. We gon’ take turns, pullin’ out pairs like dat outta play. We start by takin’ one card from da other. Da person left wit’ a card at the end of da game loses.”

            “So what’s the point?” Idai asked.

            “Da … point?” Remy repeated. “I mean, der ain’t really a point. I’s a game, petite. Most games don’ really have points.”

            “Shouldn’t it be productive?”

            “Petite, need I remind you dat you jus’ a chil’? You can have fun, I promise.”

            Idai threw Remy a sidelong glance as he started shuffling the deck. Quickly, her expression changed to one of wonder as her eyes watched his fingers move. Idai had no clue what cards were. Shuffling was somehow magical to her.

            “How are you doing that?” Idai asked.

            Remy tossed her a half grin. “Years’a practice, petite.”

            “No, but … it doesn’t make any sense as to how it works.”

            Remy’s grin grew. “Yah? Den I shouldn’t be able ta do dis, n’est-ce pas?” He switched shuffling techniques, more to show off than anything. “Remy t’inks you an’ yer entire tribe don’ know as much as ya t’ink you do,” he added with a wink. He stopped shuffling, straightened the cards against the log, and then handed them over to Idai. “Pass ‘em out, Idai. One ta me, den one ta you, an’ so on. I’m gonna finish my soup.”

            Idai held the cards awkwardly in one hand. “Pass them out how?”

            “In a stack, one at’a time. Ya can put mine on da log next ta me. Numbers down, petite.”

            Idai did as told, slowly. She placed each and every card more deliberately than Remy had seen in his life. While Remy found it amusing, he appreciated the time he had to finish his meal. He actually had time to spare by the time Idai divvied up the deck.

            “Now careful, dis a new deck, so dey slippery.”

            “Yeah, I got that,” Idai replied with a healthy coating of sarcasm.

            Remy scooped up his pile of cards after Idai finished handing them out, and set to work on organizing his hand.

            “So, see,” he said instructionally, “I’m takin’ out da pairs. Gotta red pair’a twos, red pair’a jacks, black pair’a sevens …” He set each pair down face up between them. “You can look at yer hand an’ find da pairs, too.”

            Idai held the cards in her hands awkwardly, shuffling through them with a careful deliberateness. Her expression was the picture of concentration. Though it took her a while, about as long as it took Remy to sort out all of his pairs, she eventually pulled out two cards from her main deck and placed the main deck down on her lap. She held up the two cards. “These two are a match?” she asked.

            Remy nodded with a smile. “Yah, petite. Red pair’a tens. So now you put dose down on da otha’ cards face up b’tween us.” He gestured to his discard pile.

            Idai continued sifting through the cards she’d passed out to her. She was careful, thorough, if excruciatingly slow. Every time she’d find a pair, she wouldn’t trust herself to use one hand to take out the cards while holding the remainder in her other. She’d set her deck down every time. Remy found it more amusing than anything.

            “Say, petite,” Remy began. A thought occurred to him. “Kifu told me t’ find someone t’ bring me food, yet you come out an’ find me. Why’s dat?”

            Idai looked up from her hand, startled. The look was immediately replaced by sheepishness. “I may have ignored Mai’s request to stay hidden. I saw you make Kifu nervous, which means she really wouldn’t like me talking to you. So, I decided to talk to you.”

            “Wait, I make her nervous?” Remy asked. He hadn’t picked up on that at all. Annoyed, most certainly. But nervous? Anxious?

            Idai threw him a rather perplexed look. “You can’t tell? She’s in fight mode around you.” She gestured her arm in Kakashi’s direction. “Not around him. Anyone that throws Kifu off is worth meeting.”

            “You don’ like her. It can’ be jus’ ‘cuz she’s hard t’ get along wit’, petite.”

            She brought the cards back up to her face, shuffling through them to try and match more pairs. “I already told you,” she said stubbornly.

            “Not everyt’in’,” Remy prompted. He was trying to be gentle, but curiosity was burning him.

            “No. But I don’t want to talk about everything.” She condensed the cards into a stack in her hands. “I think I found all the pairs. Now what?”

            Remy forced the disappointed frown off his face. He’d figure out their tension eventually. He couldn’t be surprised that someone like Kifu wouldn’t have sour relationships with some people. “Alright.” He fanned out his own cards with both hands and presented the backs to Idai. “You pick one’a my cards an’ see if it matches one’a your cards. If it does, discard da pair. If it don’t, it’s yer card t’ add t’ yer deck.”

            She studied the cards in his hand, eventually teasing one from the middle of his cards out. It took her a long moment to go through her own cards to find its match.

            “An’ now I pick one from you,” Remy told her. “Can you spread out your cards like a fan, like I did?”

            Idai awkwardly manipulated her cards into a mimic of the appropriate shape. It was enough for Remy to draw. He made a match.

            “You must be one of the new Tribeslings that Kifu found,” a new voice said over Idai’s shoulder. Remy craned his neck to study her face. Idai audibly groaned.

            “Who, me?” Remy asked. She looked like she was in her mid-thirties with a very round, kind face.

            “Yes. What is your name?”

            “Remy. Remy LeBeau.”

            “I’m Mai.” She turned her gaze to Idai, her expression immediately turning critical. “And where have you been, Idai?”

            “Here. I brought food to Remy and he offered to play a game with me,” she said. She didn’t sound too bitter about Mai’s veiled accusations.

            “Were you not asked to do other tasks?” Mai asked with mock patience.

            Remy quirked an eyebrow.

            “Um, no. You did ask all of the children to stay away from center camp.” She turned to look Mai down. “But not me.”

            Mai sighed, only shooting a quick glance to Remy. “And what makes you special from that?”

            Idai tilted her head. “You haven’t included me in blanket statements like that for seasons, Mai. I’m fine out here, you know. Telk’s with Neto. I heard his voice. And Kannawi is right. There.” Indeed, Mai stood mere feet away from the dimwitted man. “Anyway, even though Kifu is reacting like Kifu, it doesn’t mean that everything is as bad as she thinks it is. Remy’s nice.”

            Remy blinked. That was a first, getting called nice.

            “Is it a problem, playin’ cards wit’ Idai?” Remy asked Mai. He waved his cards in an open fan to accentuate what cards were.

            Mai pursed her lips. “No, it is not a problem. The problem was that Idai disappeared. With Kifu’s and Neto’s caution, I became worried. I mean you no offense.”

            “None taken,” Remy grunted. At least Mai was polite about it.

            “I’m safe,” Idai said.

            Remy nodded. “Promise,” he added.

            Mai was quiet a moment. Calculating. “Okay. Well, if you need anything, Remy, you may let me know. Technically, I’m in charge of all Tribeslings. I’m sure Kifu’s already told you, but we have determined that my tutelage wouldn’t work well in your instance. I work best with children and retired adults. Working adults are in Kifu’s charge, but I am always here for anyone that needs me. I’m pretty easy to find. I’m surrounded by children almost all the time.”

            Remy smiled, rather broadly for the situation. “Merci, cherie. I ‘preciate da offer.”

            Mai hesitated a moment, and then nodded a goodbye. “I suppose I should introduce myself to the other man. It was nice meeting you. Idai, I’d like to speak with you when you finish your … card? Game?”

            “Yes, Mai,” Idai said.

            With that, Idai and Remy were alone with the cards again. Kannawi didn’t seem to notice anything.

            “Mmm. A li’l overbearing?” He fanned out his cards and offered them to Idai.

            “Sometimes,” Idai agreed. “But it’s hard to get mad at her about it. She only tries to help.”

            Remy contemplated Idai’s words. Very mature for someone of her age, he had to say. Remy couldn’t find himself quite agreeing with the sentiment, even at his age.

            Idai plucked a card carefully from Remy’s hand and proceeded to sift through her own to find a match.

            “I guess I di’n’t have dat growin’ up,” Remy told Idai. “I hate when people try an’ take away my options, y’know?” He hovered his fingers playfully over Idai’s haphazard fan.

            “No, I wouldn’t know,” Idai said. “Between Kifu and Mai, every breath I take feels controlled.” She looked at him seriously. “At least with Mai, she’s good about it.”

            “Why’s Kifu care so much?” That woman had way too much power, if you asked Remy.

            Idai pursed her lips. Instead of answering, she gestured for Remy to hold up his cards for her to choose from. She matched another pair. “I couldn’t say,” she eventually said.

            Remy finally decided to drop the subject of Kifu, at least around Idai. He’d figure her out eventually. Unfortunately, he had all the time in the world to do so. It didn’t look like he’d spontaneously pop back home.

            They continued pulling cards from each others’ hands, matching pairs more often than not. Soon, Remy was left with the last card.

            “What’s that mean?” Idai asked.

            Remy grinned. “Guess I’m an old maid, petite. I lose.”

            Idai tilted her head to the side. “I still don’t see the point to the game. What do you lose? Do I win?”

            Remy snorted and began gathering the cards all together again. “I guess you can say you win, sure. An’ dat’s it. I jus’ lose.”

            Idai stood. She cast a disapproving look in the direction of the main corridor heading back into the mountain, and then back at Remy with a brighter expression. “Well, anyway, I had fun. Thank-you for teaching me, Remy.” She nodded her head appreciatively.

            “Dat’s it, petite? You jus’ gonna go back der?”

            “Yeah. Mai wishes to speak with me.”

            Remy blinked. “So you jus’ gonna go back der?” he repeated, a little dumbfounded. So … obedient.

            “Yeah?” Idai repeated in a very different tone from just earlier. “I know you haven’t been here long, but that’s how the Tribes run,” she said with a shrug.

            Remy blew out a lungful of air, slowly. He was getting a bad feeling about his compatibility with the tribe. “Great,” he said.

            “I’ll see you later,” Idai said. She turned around and walked away toward the back of the mountain.

            Telk stepped forward at that moment, almost startling Remy from his thoughts. He was unaware of the guy looming over him from behind. “Don’t worry about it, Remy,” he said.

            “Worry ‘bout what?” Remy asked sourly.

            “I can tell you’re having doubts,” Telk said. “It’s natural. But I promise we’ll figure out a way to make you feel at home. It’s … why when we bring in new people, we avoid adults. It’s a lot more difficult for adults to readjust to a new life than children.”

            “Y’all realize you jus’ a bunch’a Stockholmed kidnappers, yeah?” Remy asked. He tried not to sound so accusing.

            “I don’t really know what you mean,” Telk admitted, “but we also try to only pull children away from bad situations and give them a new start. Me? I was well off until slavers killed my parents. They put up too much of a fight. But the slavers didn’t find me after my parents were dead. The Tribes … kind of had a bad history with these slavers, so I was found quickly. I was pretty eager to start over here.”

            “What’s well off in a place like dis?” Remy asked flatly.

            Telk shrugged, and then sat down beside Remy on the log. He’d initiated contact, now it was time for him to commit comfortably. “I came from an established village. Kind of like the Tribes, but we had travelers and traders come through because we were right off the ocean.” He pointed through the buildings and over the mountain the camp was built into. “There’s an ocean just on the other side of this mountain range. You can actually see it if you climb the peak. You might even be able to see my old village, if it’s not a burnt hull of itself from the slavers. But being right off the ocean, we got a lot of cool, new things come in that we don’t really get to see in the Tribes. Swords. Glass. Pottery. Fashion.”

            “Wait, glass is a cool new t’ing?” Remy asked with a trace of horror.

            “Yeah. For the most part, our village didn’t have it. But my parents bought it the first or second time it came through our village. Our house was, well, well off.”

            Remy dropped his head in his hands and exhaled a French curse. “Guess I lived like a king, mon amie,” he told Telk in a monotone. “We had all da glass you could want. Plumbin’. Like, runnin’ water in our house. Light wit’out fire on command. T’ings you’ve never t’ought of. An’ now … now I stuck in da dark ages.” He ran his fingers stiffly through his hair, working on getting a grip over himself again. He appreciated the challenges of modern life, not the challenges of his great-great ancestors.

            Telk took a moment to process what Remy had said. His brows were raised in a rather stunned expression. “A very different world,” he commented. “If that’s the case, and you lived like a king, why did you learn to fight? My village had no need for warriors, like the Tribes. I didn’t learn to fight until the Air Tribe took me in.”

            Remy couldn’t help but snort a laugh. He brought his hands down roughly along his jaw before setting them back in his lap. “Don’ get me wrong, I was no king. Prince’a da underground, maybe. You know what a t’ief is, yah? Took Kifu a long time t’ figure dat one out.”

            “Thief.” Telk nodded minutely. “You were good at it, then?”

            “Da best.”

            “You’re a very guarded man. Why tell us you were a thief?” Telk asked.

            “It don’t matter here.” He gestured broadly to the tribe’s camp around them. “Der ain’t not’in’ ‘round here dat a t’ief would make y’all worried. An’ y’already don’t trust me.”

            “Trust is something earned here, that is all. As far as Kifu goes, I believe you remind her of someone in her past. Someone that she can’t get over, despite everything happening when we were much, much younger. I don’t think she’ll ever like you, and that’s not your fault.”

            “Kinda get da feelin’ she’s exactly da one I need t’ gain da trust of, or my life here gonna be a l’il miserable. Er, more miserable.”

            “She practically runs the Tribe, true, but there are ways around her. Through me, for example.”

            “Yer a big shot, too?” Remy asked.

            “In a sense. Not officially.”

            Kifu had made a point in getting Telk to join the group of them. A rather vague point, but she was firm about it nevertheless. Yet, since he’d joined them, he hadn’t done anything specific. He and Kifu spent a lot of time away from the others, but that was about it. Was he an unofficial advisor to the head huntstress?

            “So what happens next, hmm?” Remy asked.

            “What do you mean?”

            “All I was told was t’ mingle. No offense, but you a borin’ group as a whole.” He stole a glance over at the dwindling carcass of the hanging deer. That didn’t help. “I’m ready t’ move on.”

            Telk frowned with a light sigh. “Until you’re assigned to a Tribesmember or to your own duty, I’m afraid I can’t override Kifu’s instructions.”

            “T’ought you were a big shot. Der’s ways ‘round her.” Well, that went far.

            “Later. Now? I wouldn’t dare try anything. She’ll have a plan for when she’s back.”

            Remy smacked his head back into his hands. “Den in her bounds, what next? I can’ jus’ sit idle here, mon ami. He’s a lump in da rug,” Remy said, implicating Kannawi, “an’ pre’y much ev’ryone else busy. ‘Cept Kakashi, but even I ain’t in da mood t’ mess wit’ him right now.”

            Kifu made it fairly obvious that Remy was the one to watch out for between the two of them. While Remy had no problem with anyone distrusting him, he did have a problem with people placing their trust in someone that didn’t deserve it. In his opinion, Kakashi was one of those people. He was dangerous, he was cautious, and he was even less up front about it than Remy. Remy could cause a scene, but he was certain Kakashi could do so much more. If Remy could help it, he’d like to avoid the man.

            For mental note, Remy turned around to check in on him. He was still alone, leaning against a large rock with his one visible eye closed. Funny how Remy was the one that should mingle with others, while Kakashi could spend his time snoozing.

            “I see that you don’t like him,” Telk said. When Remy turned back to look at Telk, he saw that Telk was studying Kakashi as well. “I think I already know why. But you do realize that you were the one that tried killing Kannawi in front of us?”

            “I ain’t a murderer,” Remy spat. He took a calming breath at his own venom. That statement wasn’t entirely true, but it was a sure weak spot. “I woul’n’t’a killed da man.”

            “It didn’t look that way,” Telk observed.

            Remy set his lips in a line as he thought over his next argument. “Don’t you t’ink it a l’il unfair dat you can test me, but I can’t test you?”

            Telk tried his best to hide admiration in the inquiry, but Remy caught it anyway. Telk was not Remy’s enemy. It was possible that he could be Remy’s greatest ally in this godforsaken world. “You’re that confident in us – or would you have stopped yourself before taking off Kannawi’s head with your staff?”

            Remy shrugged. “Confident in maself. Testin’ Kannawi.” In fact, he understood Kannawi’s limitations right away. Even moreso than Remy’s own limitations, seeing as they were different in this world than his own. He was more … human here than at home. He was testing Kifu to see how she’d react.

            “Where did you have that staff, anyway?” Telk asked.

            Remy grinned and pulled one side of his coat away from his body to reveal a pocket on the inside. “An’ my cards are on da other side,” he said.

            “Are those what you were playing with, with Idai?” Telk was genuinely curious. Not accusing whatsoever.

            Remy nodded. At home, his cards were a weapon. Remy had the ability to change the potential energy of objects into explosive kinetic energy. In short, he could make bombs out of inanimate material. Cards were perfect. They were small, so while they couldn’t create large explosions, they were quick to charge up. They were also very easy to throw. Remy was a master at throwing small objects.

            His mutant power was taken from him when he was ripped from his world to the tribes. He couldn’t charge objects up and turn them into bombs. He also had the agility and dexterity of a normal person of his build. Granted, it was still better than most, but it wasn’t enhanced. Remy didn’t realize the extent of it until his fight with Kannawi. Otherwise, Remy wouldn’t have allowed the man to land a strike.

            “Why do you carry them with you?” Telk asked, referring to his cards.

            Remy smiled a wry smile. “Dey were my best weapon at home,” he said. No use in covering that up. “Dey ain’t gonna be effective ‘round here. I’m short range only, mon ami.”

            Telk was confused, but he didn’t ask for elaboration. “So you throw small objects,” he said instead.

            Remy nodded again. “Kinda my specialty.”

            “Yet you’re versed in the staff. That’s the Air Tribe’s specialty. That, and archery.”

            “I know how t’ use it fine, yah.”

            Telk offered a smile to Remy. A genuine smile. “I think you’ll end up fitting in nicely around here, actually. We’ll come up with things to keep you busy. Maybe not today, or any time soon, but we’ll get there.”

            Remy sighed. “Fun stuff.”

            Telk stood and patted Remy on the back. “It will be. We have enough people around here that we may have fun sometimes. Song and dance some nights. Spars other nights.”

            “Spars?” Remy asked. That sounded more like a training exercise than fun.

            Telk nodded with an excited grin. “Once you’re initiated, you make this Tribe into your home. So long as you get your work done, we’re pretty lenient. Even Kifu.”

            He nodded his goodbye, as seemed customary in the tribe, and walked toward the camp entrance. Remy traced his retreat with his eyes, until Telk was no longer visible. He was leaving camp to who knew where.

            No one else made a move to talk to Remy, and Remy didn’t care to talk to anyone else. Eventually, he scooted forward to sit flat on the ground, pulled out his cards again, and set up a game of solitaire. FreeCell, to be specific. The game required a little more thought and strategy than a typical game of solitaire and was a lot easier to win with some extra time.

            Remy was unaware of how quickly or how slowly time was passing. He wasn’t entirely sure if it mattered. The tribes obviously didn’t have anything to keep time, other than the passing of the sun. And Remy’s only task was to get to know people. Well, he’d gotten to know Idai and Kifu’s best buddy, Telk. That ought to count for something.

            “I haven’t seen this game before,” someone commented from behind.

            Remy squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, his jaw clenching. The voice belonged to Kakashi. “It’s a solitaire game,” Remy explained bluntly.

            “Solitaire?” Kakashi almost sounded amused. “I think we’re supposed to be socializing.”

            “Yeah? An’ you care?”

            Remy couldn’t see Kakashi to see if he’d nonverbally reacted.

            “Well, she almost took my book as insurance that I’d talk to someone.”

            Remy snorted. “An’ I da first person you talk to? Af’er all dis time since she left.”

            “I don’t feel like branching out,” Kakashi explained flatly. His voice was slightly closer. Remy stole a glance out of the side of his eye to find Kakashi crouching on the other side of the log. Remy huffed and turned back to his cards.

            “She told you, di’n’t she?” Remy asked.

            “Told me what?” Kakashi asked back.

            “What I told her when you were sparin’ ‘gainst Eljah.”

            “No.”

            Remy grunted. “But you know. I know you know.”

            Kakashi sighed. “I know, yes.”

            “Figured dat’s what you were talkin’ ‘bout on da way back up here,” Remy grumbled.

            Silence for a moment. “You’re more observant than I first took you for,” he remarked. “Me having been an assassin, is that why you have a problem with me? You’re very charismatic, but you drop the charade around me. Why show me a closer depiction of yourself?”

            It was true. Remy didn’t have the energy to try and be nice around Kakashi. He was also impressed that Kakashi figured out most of Remy’s act was just that – an act. Maybe he was dropping his cover too much around the man. Remy turned, temporarily abandoning his game. “I gotta long history wit’ assassins, Kakashi. Ne’er, e’er turned out in my favor, see? Human life ain’t somet’in’ you can jus’ play wit’ like it’s a game,” Remy spat. Remy would play with people and their emotions. But their lives? Absolutely not.

            “My job was never a game,” Kakashi said. He held out his hands, almost as if in defense. “That wasn’t my entire life, either. I was pulled from the assassin corps and made a sensei. You do what your village requires of you.”

            “It’s a line you don’ cross,” Remy argued. He couldn’t help the bit of desperation that painted his voice. Of course, Remy crossed that line himself. It wasn’t an assassination, at least by his own hand, but he’d killed someone. His fiancé’s brother. His life choices from there on out weren’t the greatest, either, but he couldn’t take anything back. He shouldered it, let the weight of his decisions drag on his soul every day. It was a better alternative than shutting off his humanity.

            Kakashi was absolutely unreadable. It bothered Remy more than he cared to admit. He wasn’t very used to being around people he couldn’t read. Manipulation was Remy’s game. People that could control themselves to Kakashi’s degree weren’t easy prey. The difficulty it would ensue wasn’t the fun kind of challenge, either.

            “What you have against me is your own personal demons.” Kakashi’s voice wasn’t as kind with this sentence.

            Remy couldn’t help but flinch. There was no argument against the accusation. So instead, Remy composed himself and flashed Kakashi a smile. It was fake, but Remy had enough practice with making even fake smiles realistic. “Personal experience, mon ami. Oui.”

            He needed to take the attention off of himself. He’d prefer Kakashi to leave him alone, but it didn’t appear that was happening any time soon. “So, what’s yer reason fer comin’ over here, hein?”

            “I told you,” Kakashi said with mock patience.

            Remy grunted. “Why don’ you go away?”

            “That’s a little up front, especially for you,” Kakashi commented.

            “Yer actin’ dense.”

            Kakashi shrugged. And didn’t make to leave.

            Heaving an exasperated sigh, Remy turned back to his card game. FreeCell was a decent strategy game, as far as cards went, and it required a fair amount of concentration less he forget his own strategy.

            Remy managed to finish his first game and work diligently on a second game before he was interrupted again. Strictly speaking, the disturbance was directed toward Kakashi, but it was enough to disrupt his game.

            “You look bored,” Takki said. From what Remy could glean, Takki was always a tad louder than he needed to be. Remy turned from his game, only to see that Takki was talking to Kakashi and only Kakashi.

            “I’m not bored,” Kakashi informed Takki.

            Takki exhaled dramatically and crashed on the ground next to Kakashi. “Well, I am. You should teach me cool things while Kifu’s gone.”

            “That’s not my place,” Kakashi said.

            “But you’re better than her,” Takki whined. “She doesn’t ever fight. And that’s supposed to be something every Tribesmember knows how to do. What if there’s another war, like before I was a part of the Tribes? What am I supposed to do? Go through my exercises?”

            “I can’t fault her on her methods,” Kakashi explained. “We have similar protocols in my village, too.”

            Takki groaned and shifted to look at Remy. Remy could feel his eyes on the back of his neck. “What about you? You’re better than Kifu, too.”

            Remy snorted. “Yah? She don’t seem t’ t’ink so, gosse.”

            “Maybe she should prove it.”

            “What? You wan’ me do somet’in’ ‘bout dat?”

            “I don’t care. Just teach me something cool.”

            The corner of Remy’s lip rose in an amused smile. “Non. I don’ teach.”

            “Aaagh.” Takki flopped against the log between him and Remy. “What’s wrong with all of you?”

            “You remind me a lot of one of my students that I had at home,” Kakashi mused. Remy felt a pique of interest despite himself. “He wanted to be Hokage some day. I suppose I’ll never know if he makes it now. With Naruto, though, he’d want to master everything that came across his path and he wouldn’t stop until he did. I found him more than once passed out in the middle of his training.”

            “So you are a teacher,” Takki exclaimed. “Teach me!”

            “Well, have you mastered your exercises Kifu assigned you?”

            “Yeah,” Takki said quickly.

            “So I’m guessing that’s not the last thing she’s taught you.”

            “No. We were working on archery and tracking,” he grumbled. “It’s boring.”

            “Hm. Maybe she wa’n’t kiddin’ dat she could track me down,” Remy considered.

            “Shouldn’t you maybe master that step before you move on to the grander things?” Kakashi asked Takki.

            “But it’s boring,” Takki argued.

            Kakashi sighed. “Not everything you learn will be exciting. Not everything in life will be exciting. You should learn everything your sensei wants to teach you, because she thinks it’s important.”

            Remy snorted. “A teacher jus’ makes learnin’ faster, gosse. You don’ need her ‘round t’ learn on yer own.”

            “Huh,” Kakashi said. “That’s rather profound advice.”

            “’Course it is,” Remy said. “Dat’s comin’ from someone who ain’t had a teacher. An’ still I’m better at what I do den otha people. You decide how important it is t’ learn somet’in’, an’ you do it.”

            “Is that why your language is so bad?” Takki asked with a snicker.

            “’Scuse me?” Remy barked. “My language ain’t bad, gosse!” He rounded on the kid. “It called an accent! E’ryone ‘round me growin’ up spoke like dis.” That wasn’t true in the least bit. The people he associated with spoke like him, but not most people in the vast city. “You gotta be’er accent ya want me speakin’?”

            “What’s that mean?” Takki asked.

            “It means that I speak how I want to speak. I like my accent,” Remy said. He switched gears, pulling off his own rendition of the common Tribes accent. Nearly everyone but Eljah spoke the same way.

            “Whoa.”

            Remy rolled his eyes. Turned his back again. “You t’ink dat’s impressive.”

            “Do you think I could speak in your accent?” Takki asked in a whisper.

            “Non.” He didn’t need to hear a bastardization of his tongue from an overeager kid.

            “Why not?”

            “Don’ even try, gosse.”

            “What’s that mean?”

            “Gosse?”

            “Yeah.”

            Remy needed to see Takki’s face for his reaction to Remy’s reply, so he turned around just to say, “brat.”

            “What!”

            Remy smirked and continued playing his game of FreeCell.

            Takki grumbled to himself, shifted noisily, and stalked off.

            Again, Remy could feel eyes in the back of his neck. “What?” He leaned forward, finishing the second game and gathering up the cards into one organized pile.

            Kakashi sighed and said nothing.

            People moved around the camp with a little more bustle to their step as the day waxed on. Some new faces moved up the mountain path, and some left the camp as well. Remy had his back to the deer, but judging by the dwindling noises from that direction, the tribes’ people had nearly finished their task in relieving the animal of its meat. A face Remy didn’t recognize started up a fire in the pit as well. Remy had to move for its heat.

            Remy stood, his cards packed back into the inside pocket of his coat. Once Remy was on his feet, Kakashi followed suit. As he’d apparently promised Kifu, he kept his book hidden from sight. He had better patience than Remy.

            The tribe continued to buzz around Kakashi and Remy. They had tasks to complete, unlike the two newcomers. With unspoken agreeance, they stepped off to the side and on the backburner.

            Remy didn’t mind watching the tribe work, especially now that the deer had been taken away. Each and every person seemed to know what they were supposed to do, and they carried out their tasks with energy. Before long, they had food cooking. They had strips of meat, most likely taken from the deer earlier. One person tended to the seasoned meat, using a small wooden stake for each strip, while another prepared a vegetable. Remy had no idea exactly what vegetable it was, but it was green.

            “Their methods of preparing food are very different than from where I come from,” Kakashi commented idly.

            “Mmhmm,” Remy agreed.

            “I look forward to food anyway. I missed the last meal.”

            Remy threw Kakashi a sidelong glance. “You did? A kid came t’ me wit’ a bowl of stew.”

            “I know.”

            “Why di’n’t you say anyt’in’?”

            “It wasn’t important.”

            Remy closed his eyes and shook his head. Kakashi was not his concern. In fact, if the man would leave Remy alone, it would be for the best. However, it appeared that now Kakashi had sidled up to Remy’s side, that’s the way it would be until something happened.

            Nothing happened.

            The tribe continued to bustle, preparing for nightfall, all around them without acknowledging their presence. Before long, dinner was prepared and served. Idai made sure to bring a bowl over for both of them this time. It wasn’t soup or stew this time, but it was presented in the concave tableware.

            “Ya ain’t gonna get in trouble fer bringin’ dis over fer da two’a us, are ya?” Remy asked her. He obligingly accepted the bowl. Kakashi took his bowl with a little smile to his eye and a quick “thank-you.” At Remy’s mention of trouble, however, he studied her with an almost confused expression in what little face he showed.

            “No,” Idai said with a reassuring smile. “Mai and I talked it out.” She took off for a moment and returned more cautiously with her own bowl of stew. She settled between the two strange men and began to eat.

            “Yeah?” Remy said. “An’ what was der t’ talk about?”

            Idai shrugged noncommittally. “She thought that I’d deliberately disobeyed her.” She studied both men for a moment, one at a time. As if deciding something, she took in a sharp breath with a nod. “Kifu is playing this overly cautiously. She told Neto that she wanted the children hidden from your sights, in case things go wrong. I’m not technically an apprentice yet, so I’m supposed to be included with the children. Yet, Mai hasn’t treated me like a child in seasons.

            “I don’t remember a single time like this in my entire lifetime. Sure, the Tribe has experienced internal tension … Renza, when I was little. But two adults joining the Tribe? Unheard of.” She grabbed a slab of meat, tore a chunk out of it with her teeth, and continued talking while chewing. “They don’t know how to handle you. It’s normal for Kifu to go away for a day to figure things out on her own, but they’re usually big problems. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a kill order on your heads if you stepped out of line.” She pointed with the slab of meat towards Telk. “That’s what he’s for, so you know.

            “A kill order isn’t normal for the Tribes. Some people have disappeared. Some people have been dispatched in war. ‘Friendly fire.’ But just staying on our toes in case something happens? I can’t remember a time like it.”

            Remy blinked, blown away.

            “Uh … shouldn’t this remain a secret order? Tactically speaking?” Kakashi asked.

            Remy turned his sights on Kakashi, feeling even more surprise. Didn’t he like to know exactly what was going on?

            Idai shrugged, unperturbed. “You were going to figure it out eventually.”

            At this, Remy nodded subtly. He supposed she hadn’t told him anything new, nothing he didn’t know. It was simply jarring to hear it spoken. Especially so casually from someone so young.

            “Besides, what do you have to gain from waiting? Renza and the group he came from is dead. I was too young to remember anything from that, but I do know that they’re not going to cause us anymore problems. You could kill us all now and wait for Kifu to come back to finish off the entire Tribe.”

            She flicked a vegetable in Remy’s direction, and then took a bite out of it. “But what murderer teaches a kid Old Maid? Kifu’s being paranoid. She’s always paranoid.” She scowled at that, and then shoved the last of the vegetable in her mouth.

            Remy wasn’t so sure that he was hungry. The food was too bland to be enticing, and knowing how cutthroat the world he’d been thrown into was turning out to be very off putting. Kakashi also left his food untouched, despite his admission of his hunger. His mask remained firmly over his face, like he hadn’t even thought about filling his stomach.

            “Oh, no,” Idai muttered.

            “Huh? What?” Remy asked sharply.

            “Kifu’s back.” With that, she promptly stood up and disappeared between the bodies of other tribespeople. She didn’t even offer a goodbye.

            “Well, you made an interesting acquaintance,” Kakashi observed.

            “I wonder what her problem with Kifu is,” Remy wondered.

            Kifu made a beeline toward Remy and Kakashi, slinking through the people with ease. Remy greeted her by standing up, but Kakashi remained crouched with his bowl balancing on his knees.

            “Chasseuse,” Remy said.

            Her eyes flicked between their bowls, and then their faces. “Finish eating and meet me at the entrance to my hut. You’ll be sleeping in my quarters for now.”

            “Paranoid?” Remy asked. He liked Idai’s description of her.

            Kifu narrowed her eyes. “Sure. I’ve been the center of too much cutthroat behavior in my time here. I’m better equipped at handling surprises than most anyone else, and have the means to stop things before they get out of hand. Therefore, you sleep where I sleep. You go where I go. You do what I say.”

            She turned her back to grab her own dinner, and then slunk out of sight.

            “You know,” Kakashi said tentatively after a moment. Remy looked down at him. His food in the bowl was gone. His mask was still in place. “I wouldn’t say that she’s an assassin, but judging by how different she is than everyone else … she’s a killer, too.”

            Remy’s brows instantly knitted together. “She tell you that?”

            “No. You’re also hiding a bloody tragedy. So don’t think that you’re better than us.” Kakashi rose slowly, transferring the bowl to his hands. He was shorter than Remy, but something about the way he carried himself was imposing.

            “How …?”

            “How what?” Kakashi challenged. He leveled a glare at Remy, holding his eyes with his one.

            “How could you t’ink yer right?”

            Kakashi blinked. Took a few breaths as he bided his time. “We’re not all that different. Different paths in life, but the outcome is the same. If you keep pushing her, you will find yourself hurt. Our pasts aren’t stories to be told. They’re scar tissue that serves as a personal reminder.” He took a step closer to Remy, still holding his gaze. “Tell me that I’m wrong.”

            Despite himself, Remy broke the eye contact and transferred his eyes to the ground. No, he wouldn’t argue with Kakashi on that one. Remy’s story … the Morlocks … it was a secret he wished he could have taken to the grave.

            “I would eat that meal, if I were you,” Kakashi said. His tone had flipped completely, from something ominous to lighthearted and happy. “You wouldn’t want to insult the people of our new home.”

            And Remy was alone.

            Propelled more by the impeding sense of awkwardness he’d feel if he’d returned the bowl with food uneaten than Kakashi’s latent threat, Remy eventually choked down the meal given to him. The crowd of people dissipated until all that was left was an older woman, and Kakashi waiting patiently near Kifu’s hut. Kifu was still out of sight.

            Remy took one step toward the fire in the center of the camp and the woman bustled up to him to take his bowl. “Thank-you, sir. I will make sure it’s washed,” she told him. Remy wondered again how he might wash himself, but figured asking the lady without a name wasn’t the best person to ask.

            “Merci, chere,” Remy mumbled.

            The woman ducked out of sight without another word. Closing his eyes and breathing out slowly, Remy crossed the camp center to join Kakashi by Kifu’s hut. “Do you have a mouth?” he asked Kakashi casually.

            Had Kakashi been anyone else, Remy was sure he’d get an interesting reaction. Yet Kakashi responded in an annoyingly tepid fashion. He slowly pivoted his head to regard Remy with his one sleepy eye. “Huh?”

            Remy tried to keep from slapping the man. “A mouth. Y’know, a t’ing most people have t’ eat. Do you have one?”

            Kakashi’s eyebrow drew toward the center of his face. “Yes….”

            “You realize da way you ate … it was inhuman, yah?”

            Now his eyebrow shot upwards, underneath his headband. “I was not aware.” He turned his head again, exposing the side of his face that was completely unexposed.

            “Maybe you’re just a slow eater,” Kifu deadpanned. She circled behind them, her footsteps completely silent. Kakashi turned his body slowly to regard her, but Remy positively jumped. He wasn’t even a jumpy man.

            “Jus’ a man of finer tastes,” Remy argued. “No offense, I appreciate y’all fer feedin’ me, but … eatin’ bland food jus’ ain’t easy, chasseuse.”

            Her expression fell flat. “Get over it,” she said in a voice just as unimpressed. “You live here now.”

            She pushed between the two, somehow managing to keep from actually touching them, and entered the door to her hut. “Follow,” she instructed. Kakashi ambled in first, Remy following slowly. The interior was dark, even though the sky hadn’t reached night yet. It took a moment for his vision to adjust.

            The hut was plain. She had a couple weapons stood up near the door, as well as the arm braces she had on when meeting them strewn across the floor. A pile of what passed for clothes in the Tribes sat in a crumpled pile on the other side of the hut. Other than that, she actually slept from a hammock strung up near the back.

            “Until you’ve earned not only my trust, but Neto’s as well, this is where you call home.” She turned around to face them, feet spread and arms crossed.

            “We ain’t even met Neto,” Remy pointed out.

            “That’s fine,” Kifu assured him. “You don’t need to.”

            “Uh … how’s he s’posed t’ trust us if he ain’t met us?”

            “Neto can make those kinds of decisions. Besides, Neto isn’t the one you need to worry about.”

            Of course, the one Remy had to worry about most was Kifu. If Kakashi was right, Remy wondered if she’d have the guts to take them out in their sleep if they weren’t up to her satisfaction. She certainly acted cold enough for it.

            “An’ beds, chasseuse?” Remy prompted as gently as he could.

            Kifu puffed out her breath. “I can find you something to lay on.”

            “In other words, we sleepin’ on da stone.”

            “I said, I can find you something to lay on.”

            “That’s fine,” Kakashi said. His voice was back to the kind, happy, and lighthearted tone. Little suck-up. Remy hated him more.

            “While on da subject of our comfort … how’s a man take a … a bath ‘round here?” Remy asked.

            Kifu’s bottom lip pressed against the top. “I can cover that tomorrow.”

            Remy had a very bad feeling that her answer was not going to be satisfactory. He could only hope that it would be better than her answer about bedding. He knew that she’d bring back a skin for him to sleep on. Two, if he was lucky. “Yeah, okay,” he grunted.

            Kifu looked between the two of them, refusing to relax her pose. “A short plan for you two, I guess, is to get you acquainted with the Tribe. I’ll take you on a tour of our land tomorrow. Explain the best place to bathe, the boundaries, and places to avoid. And when I say that,” she said sharply, glaring at Remy as she said the words, “I mean that it’s where we hunt and we don’t need you scaring away the prey, nor do we need you getting shot. It’ll take most of the day to cover the area. I’ll see if I can pair you up with another Tribesmember or two for a few days so that you can get a better feeling for what a normal Tribesmember does. It has a lot less to do with dealing with other people and making sure that things get done. You two will be the ones getting things done. Even though I’ll temporarily hand you off to others, you will still be under my charge. You report to me directly.”

            “My hope is that you’ll find something that calls to you and makes you a happy, productive member of our Tribe. We’ll ease into normal Tribe happenings. We usually have a lot more merry at sundown than tonight, but we wanted things to be calm for your welcoming.”

            She shifted her stance, relaxed a little. “Hopefully, after a few days, you’ll meet my approval. I’ll allow you to shadow another Tribesmember permanently until that Tribesmember has deemed your level of ethics acceptable. I speculate it won’t take long, considering you’re already adults that have had responsibilities before. This step usually takes children many seasons to understand. Plus, you won’t need to learn all the skills we teach children. You already know how to interact with others, do what is expected of you, and fight. Tactical training is the longest process.

            “Until you’ve proved yourselves, however, I can’t allow you to join the rest of the Tribe in sleep. You’ll sleep in my hut every night. I hate to say that I don’t trust you, but … I don’t trust you. It’s my job.” She pressed her lips together again, briefly. Remy couldn’t contain the look of surprise that crossed his face. She didn’t think it was her job to deem a new Tribesmember trustworthy or not. She must have thought that her dealing with them was above her pay grade. So to speak.

            “That sounds more than fair,” Kakashi assured Kifu with a respectful head tilt.

            Remy scoffed. “So yer timetable is, like, what? A week?”

            “A what?” Kifu asked.

            “Yer jokin’.”

            “No.”

            “Seven days,” Kakashi explained gently.

            Kifu shrugged. “That all depends on you two. Your best bet is to assimilate with everyone else. They’re a lot more forgiving than me.”

            So honest. Remy was surprised again.

            “I’ll be back in a bit. I’ll go look for something for you two to sleep on.” She pushed past them again, disappearing into the darkening night.

            “So yer fine wit’ sleepin’ on rock?” Remy asked.

            Kakashi studied him a moment. “Yeah.”

            “How?”

            “Instances in my life called for it,” he explained. That fact didn’t seem to bother him, either.

            Remy stayed in his head while Kifu was gone, though it didn’t take long for her to return. She came back holding sheep skins and knitted blankets. The blankets were dyed yellow. At least, Remy hoped they were intentionally dyed yellow. She dropped them unceremoniously on the ground between the two men and returned to where she was standing in front of her hammock.

            “I hope those can work for you,” she said.

            “Thank-you,” Kakashi said respectfully.

            Remy sighed, but also thanked her. Sleeping on a sheep skin was heads and shoulders better than sleeping on cold, hard rock.

            Kifu brought her hands up to the wrap around her torso and started unclothing herself. No warning. No explanation. Simple disrobing without another words.

            “Um, chasseuse?”

            She paused, irritation crossing her expression again. “What?”

            Even Kakashi noticeably turned away, though his back was completely to Remy.

            “Yer jus’ gonna … get naked? In front of us? Here?” It wasn’t that Remy minded. He appreciated the woman’s body. And Kifu, while dirty, had a very nice body. She was thin and well-muscled, but not in the sense of a body builder. Her muscle tone was that of an endurance athlete. Remy also had the sense to keep his paws off. But his eyes? Well, he figured she was asking for trouble.

            And Kakashi actually turning away, that had to mean something from the quiet and calculating man.

            Kifu looked more confused than anything, though she still seemed perturbed. “Yeah. Problem?”

            “Uh, chasseuse, I know I comin’ from a dif’rent world an’ all, but dat’s a … very intimate t’ing dat two people do when … um … ” He was stuck on words. Remy LeBeau, and a cat had his tongue. How was he supposed to explain intimacy to someone that was quite obviously clueless about it?

            “Intimate is expressive enough,” Kakashi said. His voice was no longer the sweet and sickly that was beginning to grate on Remy’s nerves. Kakashi, too, held issue with the blasé undressing.

            Kifu snorted. Oblivious. “Get over it,” she said. “A body is not intimate. Was I too hasty in assuming you were adults?”

            “We come from different cultures,” Kakashi explained gently. He still failed to meet her eyes, but the tone was back. “Your culture, it seems, is a bit of a shock to us both.”

            Kifu moved again, dropping the wrap to the ground. She stood bare chested with no shame.

            “Chasseuse,” Remy said again. If she had no problem with her body, Remy had no problem looking. He’d been called a pig before. “Chasseuse, dat ain’t a tattoo?”

            Kifu’s fingers shot up to her ribcage, left of center. The skin was a lot lighter there than the rest of her body, shaped in a pattern much too small for lack of suntan. A triangle with a line through it. “It’s a burn,” she said. “I did it to myself about fifteen years ago. There aren’t a whole lot of Tribesmembers that will inflict the pain on themselves, but … I went through a really trying experience and needed to prove to myself that I belonged to this Tribe. It’s a symbol for the Air Tribe and my dedication to its existence.”

            “Dat’s … dat’s kinda brutal, hein?”

            Kakashi shrugged. “Is a burn tattoo more brutal than an ink tattoo?”

            Remy turned his head to regard Kakashi. He’d taken off his vest and was in the middle of taking off one of at least two shirts. Once the sleeves were off, his shoulders were bared. The left shoulder had a tattoo. It almost resembled a flame.

            “I’d expect her tattoo took less time than my tattoo.” And in turn, should cause less pain in the long run.

            “Yer jus’ gonna get undressed, too?” Remy asked. His eyes flicked between Kifu’s burn and Kakashi’s tattoo. Each tattoo had something to prove. Remy had no such thing on his body.

            Kakashi shrugged again. “I don’t wear my entire shinobi wardrobe to bed if I can help it,” he said. He sat and took off his sandals. “Do you wear your coat to bed?”

            “Well, no.”

            Kifu worked at untying her knife from around her waist and stashed it in her hammock. Kakashi started unravelling the wraps around his calves and shins. Remy remained standing, coat still on his shoulders.

            “If you’re afraid of showing your body, we’ll understand,” Kifu said.

            Remy had to bite back a laugh. “Oh, no, it’s not dat. I t’ink.” Going through his long, stranger encrusted love life, Remy had to wonder if he’d ever exposed his naked body purposely to anyone he wasn’t about to have sex with. He still couldn’t get over Kifu’s blatant disregard to it.

            “And if you’re unhappy with your current choice of clothing, we can find you something different tomorrow.”

            “Oh, no. Dat I know I’m good wit’. I’ll keep dese clothes, t’ank-you very much.”

            Kakashi sifted through the pile of skins and blankets on the ground, taking one sheep skin and one blanket for himself. He still had his pants, a tightfitting shirt, his facemask, and his headband covering his eye on. Kifu, meanwhile, dropped her skirt. She wore only what God gave her and had no shame about it.

            Kakashi, for what it was worth, did his best to keep his eye averted. As he sorted out his makeshift bed on the ground, Remy could tell his was pointedly not looking at her. Once he was laying down, flat on his back, he finally took of his headband, but not his mask. A part of Remy wanted to creep forward to see what he was hiding under the headband.

            Instead, he started getting ready for bed as well. Truthfully, it had been a long day. He had a mission with the X-Men before he’d been pulled into the tribes. He’d started off the adventure in the new world tired, and shunted aside the thought before he had a chance to think it simply to get through the day. Now that Kifu and Kakashi were settling down, Remy was beginning to feel the full brunt of the exhaustion.

            Remy dumped his coat against the hut wall, grabbed the remainder of the skins and the other blanket, and situated them into his own bed. Once he was sitting on a skin, he took off his boots, but undressed no further. Maybe, maybe if it was just Kifu … but Remy was not presenting his body to Kakashi. No one in the tribes could make him.

            “The day starts when the sky begins to brighten,” Kifu informed them. She was cozy up in her hammock. Though Remy had to admit the sheep skins were more comfortable than he was expecting them to be. The blanket was scratchy, but that couldn’t be helped. “Rest well,” Kifu added gently.

Chapter Text

            Kakashi was no stranger to waking up on the ground in a strange place. In fact, doing so was a part of his lifestyle since childhood. The brief moment before memory set in was no more discombobulating as if he slept in his own bed.

            Remy’s slumbering form, breathing gently and contentedly, didn’t bother Kakashi, either. In fact, it was almost more confusing for there to be less than three people about him. Missions out of Konoha were typically designed for four man teams. Even so, Kakashi remembered Remy. He remembered the terrain shifting around him in an eyeblink, bringing him to the land of the Tribes. While inexplicable, Kakashi accepted it readily. The flow of energy around him and within him was different in this world. Unlike anything he’d ever experienced, even when under genjutsu. He didn’t have an illusion to break. This was his new reality.

            Maybe Kakashi needed this kind of break in his life. He’d always strived to be the best. To prove a point? To himself? To his late father? To others? He’d been on his own for so long, getting through life with minimal help, usually off the sweat of his own back, he wasn’t even sure where his drive originated from anymore. He trained to be an elite assassin and accepted the job enthusiastically. But when that almost became too much to bear, when he was about to lose himself, he was pulled from the ANBU and made a mentor. After losing Sasuke to Orochimaru, then less Naruto to Jaraiya, and Sakura to Tsunade, was this fate’s way of pushing Kakashi to a different path? He’d finished his chapter in Konohagakure. Now he’d begin anew in the Air Tribe.

            The abstract actually didn’t bother him as much as he felt like it should. Even the concrete didn’t faze him. After all, whatever was done was done. Kakashi didn’t have a clue as to how he could change anything, to make things go back to the way they were. Rather than stress about it, he’d shut it off. He’d plenty of practice compartmentalizing, anyway.

            Inside the hut was still dark. Outside, on the other side of the curtain Kifu hung in the doorway, Kakashi could make out the sun’s beginning touches to the night sky. It was too early for color, but the sky was no longer dark. The camp was quiet yet. Kakashi was the first to wake.

            Except, when Kakashi pushed himself up into a sitting position, he realized that observation was false. He was not the first awake. Kifu had already left the hut. Her hammock was empty, the clothes she carelessly dropped the night before gone. She’d had to move quietly to get past the two men sleeping on her floor, yet she managed to dress and leave without alerting either of them. When not recovering from some grievous injury, Kakashi was a rather light sleeper. He couldn’t account for Remy’s habits, but Kakashi could assume that someone with his background wouldn’t sleep through everything.

            Curiosity getting the better of him, Kakashi gracefully rose to his feet and slipped out the doorway. He didn’t bother to grab his headband, shirt or vest, or even his shoes. He could go back and get dressed once he checked in with Kifu.

            Kakashi had a reputation for tardiness at home. He always brushed it off, coming up with exotic excuses, rarely mundane. But they were often lies. He woke early and generally avoided people until he was ready to face them later in the day. Slipping away was easy when no one else was around. Having someone else do it to him was a new experience.

            Kifu sat on top of the large rock he and Remy got to know the evening before. Her posture was straight, her legs crossed, and her eyes closed. Kakashi ventured forward, careful to stay quiet so as not to disturb her.

            “You’re up before the sun rise,” she commented. She hadn’t moved. Hadn’t opened her eyes. Had she heard him?

            “So are you,” he said.

            “It’s the best way to get peace and quiet.” She cracked open an eye, studied him in the dim light. She squinted as her eyes focused on his face.

            Kakashi remained still, though his brain worked the situation quickly. He never uncovered his face from his nose down, but his two eyes were out in the open. Curiosity often got the best of those around him when it came to his face. In fact, Kakashi had both eyes open and still could only see out of his original eye. The Sharingan was also rendered moot in this world. In his world, Kakashi instinctively kept his eye closed to prevent the drain of chakra, but it wasn’t necessary here. The power of chakra wasn’t the same and didn’t fuel his eyesight in his left eye.

            Kifu swallowed and tore her gaze away, though didn’t offer any sheepishness for her scrutiny. Instead, she closed her eyes again, almost seemingly asleep. Apparently, Kifu had nothing more to say.

            She remained quiet after that, controlling her breathing effortlessly. Kakashi, enjoying the peace rather than spiting it, used the time to ground himself and prepare for the day. He refrained from grabbing his book to pass the time, but took in his surroundings. They were different when the people around him slept and the world slowly woke. The atmosphere was cool and invigorating. The air smelt sweet and fresh. The open environment was similar to the mountains in Konohagakure, but quite different nevertheless. He’d have to get used to the new energies here, as opposed to the ones he knew quite well from home.

            Kifu was the first to stir. She moved with hardly a whisper of flesh against stone. Even when she lithely jumped down to Kakashi’s level, he hardly heard the impact of her feet against ground. “I’m waking Takki, and then Remy,” she explained to him before disappearing down the path beside her hut.

            She was prompt. She had warned them that the day would start with the sun. The sky was brightening, though the sun was still far from peaking over the mountaintops.

            Kakashi vaguely wondered what Kifu had in store for them for the day. She moved with too much premeditated purpose for her to not have a plan in place. While her claims insisted that Kakashi and Remy blinking into existence in the Air Tribe were unconventional, she did seem to be handling everything with relative ease. Since the moment she was brought to the pair in the grassy field, she exuded an aura of careful control and observance. Even when surprised, she was effective. Kakashi admired it.

            At the same time, he found himself yearning for a little less scrutiny. Most of Kakashi’s life was spent alone, ever since his father disgracefully passed when he was a young child. Kakashi led his first elite team of ninja since his age was still in single digits. It didn’t mean that Kakashi couldn’t take orders, he simply desired for a little self-direction. He enjoyed training alone, honing his body to elite form. The physical effort fulfilled him. Waiting around for others … not so much.

            Kifu returned not long after stalking off down the camp’s main path. “Takki should follow me momentarily,” she explained. “He never follows on my heels.” She then ducked into the hut.

            Remy’s startled shout soon followed Kifu’s entrance. Kakashi couldn’t decipher the words that followed the initial exclamation. Either they were in a different language, or Remy’s accent thickened in his grogginess, Kakashi couldn’t tell.

            “Shut your mouth and get ready,” Kifu snapped at Remy, unperturbed. The curtain hanging from the door of her hut fluttered, expunging her from the dark interior. “If you want to clothe yourself better, do so now,” she instructed Kakashi. “We’ll be walking for most of the day, and you were wearing foot protection when I found you.”

            “You don’t ever wear shoes?” Kakashi asked her. Less so to know the answer, and more to make conversation. Plus, he was a little curious to know whether or not she was truly as short fused as she let on.

            “Never have,” she replied curtly. “I don’t feel anything with the bottom of my feet.”

            “Nothing?” Kakashi asked, surprised. He paced slowly over to her hut with intentions to gather his clothes together and get ready for the day.

            “No. Are you waiting for Takki to show up?” Kifu asked more snappishly.

            “Ah – sorry.” He dipped his chin and slid through the curtain of the hut to find his gear.

            “Suckin’ up ta her not workin’ today, mon copain?” Remy asked snidely.

            Kakashi tossed him an exasperated look. It fell flat, considering the near complete lack of light inside the walls. No bother. Kakashi didn’t exactly feel like dealing with Remy’s disgruntled attitude considering how early it still was. He quietly gathered his clothing, dressed, and exited the hut without another word from Remy.

            Kifu watched Kakashi leave the hut with a sidelong glance. Remy stepped outside mere seconds after Kakashi. “Careful. Takki almost joined me sooner than you two.” Almost as if waiting for his cue, Takki appeared from around the hut’s wall.

            “What am I doing awake before everyone else?” Takki complained as soon as his eyes caught sight of Kifu. Remy shifted his stance to mirror Takki’s irritated question.

            “This is when I should wake you every day,” Kifu said. “Instead, I opt for a little peace and sanity.”

            Remy snorted. “Da kid ain’t dat bad.”

            Kifu leveled a glare at him. “Yeah? You teach him a little self respect.” She held up a hand and lowered her head. “Oh, my mistake. You don’t have any, either.”

            Takki’s eyes flew wide in surprise at Kifu’s scathing tone. She didn’t often resort to jabs, even when Takki pestered her consistently. The furthest she ever took her critiques of Takki’s behavior was to tell him that he tired her. Remy must have bothered her even more than Takki, in a much shorter amount of time.

            “May I ask what your plan is?” Kakashi asked. Best pull everyone from their early morning negative moods and start moving them forward.

            Kifu frowned in his direction. For what reason, Kakashi was a little unsure. “I show you two the boundaries of this Tribe. Takki, you get a little exercise as you accompany us. It would have been rude to ask another Tribesman to watch over you. You get an easy day.”

            “Oh, yeah. Walking the entire Tribesland. So easy,” Takki said as sarcastically as he could.

            “It should be by now,” Kifu deadpanned. She reverted her attention back to the adults. “By showing you these boundaries, I do not yet give you permission to roam them freely. However, I feel like it’s a better way of explaining what it is we do. You’ll learn where we tend the sheep, hunt our food, and fetch our water.

            “When a Tribesmember crosses the boundaries of our land to another Tribe’s land, it very well can cause conflict. We’re a territorial people. While we don’t resort to killing for something as trivial as trespassing, you are fair game to their mercies without repercussion. Leave any Tribe’s land, and that’s where you give me permission to hunt you down and kill you.”

            “Still really doubtin’ ya can do that, chasseuse.”

            Kifu pressed her lips into a line. “I wouldn’t doubt it, as your life could very well would depend on it.”

            “Would you really kill someone for that?” Takki asked quietly.

            “I’m duty bound,” Kifu explained bluntly. “And those rules are put in place for very good reason.”

            “Why?” Takki asked with wide eyes.

            “Ask your elders. They like telling stories.” She smiled softly. “Ask Jiogi. He loves storytelling.”

            “I feel like that’s a trap,” Takki observed.

            Kifu flashed him one more smile before resetting her expression to blank. “Today is the best day to ask me questions about the Tribe and how you may fit in. Seeing as the two of you are adults, I feel like it’s best to expedite your admission into the Tribe to keep from boring you.”

            “What? Why does it not matter if I’m bored?”

            “Because you still need to learn patience.”

            “This isn’t fair. You don’t know that these two don’t know patience.” Takki crossed his arms firmly over his chest, a petulant expression painted across his face.

            “He got a good point,” Remy supplied. “Age – I don’t t’ink it’s so important.”

            Kifu leveled a glare at him. “You’d like to be someone’s apprentice for many moons?” she asked Remy skeptically. “You, I knew there was no patience. You should accept my unspoken offer before rejecting the spoken part.”

            “What now?” Remy demanded.

            Kakashi glanced between Kifu and Takki. “It’s not about age,” Kakashi said. “It’s about experience and maturity.” He paused, thinking. While Naruto, his own pupil, lacked the general maturity people expected of someone his age as he grew up, he always pushed himself to stay on everyone’s level – and then surpass them. Of course, he matured throughout the years, but in a relative manner to himself. And then, considering Kakashi’s own self, if his new companions knew how he passed his time, perhaps even they would question his maturity. “Experience, at least.”

            Takki sniffed. “I have experience.”

            “It’s up to your superiors to determine that,” Kakashi told him.

            “We should go,” Kifu cut in. “It will be warm today. We want to be back under cool rock before it’s too intense.”

            Remy smiled at Kifu. “T’ink I’m afraid’a da heat, chasseuse? I grew up in da bayou.”

            “I don’t know what that means and I frankly don’t care,” Kifu deadpanned. “Takki, lead the way, backside to the sun.”

            Takki sniffed, a small battle raging behind his eyes. He felt belittled, but pushing Kifu when she was snappy wasn’t a good idea, even amongst her friends. After his brief moment of hesitation, be obliged, leading the way out of the camp, down the path, and along a route against the mountainside. Kakashi fell in directly behind Takki, vaguely aware of Remy behind him with Kifu bringing up the rear.

            “The mountaintops completely ring in Tribe territory,” Kifu began to explain as the group gathered a rhythm away from camp. “The valley between the two main mountains, peaking at the edge of Air and Fire Tribe territories, is shallow, so our terrain is rather easy to navigate. If you find that it’s difficult to stay on your feet unaided, you’ve travelled too far to the edge of our territory.”

            Remy turned around between steps to watch Kifu as he asked his question, the words coming muffled to Kakashi’s ears. “So why’s the territory land so important, hein? Da other tribes, dey like yer neighbors, non? Why ain’t ya friendly?”

            “We are friendly with each other,” Kifu said flatly.

            “Oh yeah? Dat’s why if ya cross inta, say, fire land ‘er whatever, dey can do wit’ ya what dey want?”

            Takki slowed down, but didn’t turn around to watch the conversation. Even so, Kakashi could tell that the kid was intrigued. The Tribes, it appeared, weren’t very keen on authority being questioned.

            “Each Tribe has its own customs,” Kifu told him. “It’s easier staying physically separate and mingling on agreed upon terms. Sometimes, even that’s not enough to avoid conflict.”

            “So y’all jus’ big, unhappy families?”

            Kifu drew in a sharp breath. “We’re Tribes. Found family. Family not by blood, but by acceptance where there was none before. And each Tribe – it’s done differently.” Her expression settled into one of annoyance with her eyes locked on to Remy’s back.

            Kakashi felt a pull of intrigue at Kifu’s explanation of family. In Konohagakure, citizens were born into clans and had choices about where they lived and what they did, even if some families pressured people into thinking otherwise. That explanation seemed to be very far from the case in the Tribes. He wondered exactly how the found family worked, because he had the distinct feeling that it was nothing like Konoha’s shinobi sensei-genin groups.

            Remy pondered for a moment. “So dat’s what’s keepin’ ya here? Threats ‘till ya find family?”

            Kifu’s lips set into a line. “No. Besides you two, we all made a choice about joining the Tribes. I told you – you’re a special case.”

            “Yeah? So what’s your story, eh, Takki?”

            “Mom died from some infection. Dad turned into a drunk. Village had something against him, probably because he was a drunk and probably liar and thief – and me and my siblings kind of suffered for it.” His already slow pace wavered. “I couldn’t keep up from the pressure of trying to take care of them. It’s not really something I can do.” He forced out a small laugh. “I don’t even want to take care of myself, let alone a brother and sister that are younger than me. So when I was given an offer to join the Tribes” – Takki shrugged noncommittally – “I jumped on it.” He breathed in deep. “If I don’t think about it, the guilt isn’t so bad.”

            Remy was shocked into silence.

            “When we go out on scouting missions, to find supplies more than anything, we keep an eye out for children that look like they need help,” Kifu explained. “Though we aren’t very well equipped to take very young children.”

            “You mean, you aren’t,” Takki shot back immediately.

            “Okay, den why not keep open borders?” Remy’s voice was much more subdued with Takki’s heartfelt explanation.

            “To keep ourselves safe,” Kifu said firmly.

            “Safe? From what?”

            Kifu didn’t give Remy a reply.

            Takki’s pace eventually picked up again as he led the group along the side of the mountain on which the Air Tribe kept their camp, and that mountain eventually segued into a smaller mountain ridge seamlessly connected to it. The sun began to assault them from the left as it rose mercilessly into the air, pouring on the heat. Takki’s skin glistened with sweat, but Kifu appeared unperturbed. Remy didn’t seem to notice the sharp rise in temperature, and Kakashi made every effort to appear unfazed.

            Kifu began foraging, flitting between indiscriminate collection grounds while Takki maintained the group’s pace. She wordlessly distributed her findings amongst everyone as she did so. Remy eyed her suspiciously the first couple times she came by with the wild edibles, but eventually decided that her motives were trustworthy. Kakashi nodded grateful acknowledgement with every handful, throwing it all in his mouth when all eyes were diverted. Kifu hadn’t given them time to eat beforehand; this must have been her plan all along. She discreetly shoveled things in her mouth as she gathered, happily grazing without fretting about a balanced meal. Takki’s blasé reaction to her offerings suggested that this was her normal.

            “This river, born from the ground along the peak of this mountain ridge, marks the border between Air and Fire territories,” Kifu explained as Takki led them to a small stream of nearly invisible water. The streambed was littered with small pebbles and large stones alike, and the tall, native grasses made it difficult to tell where the stream really began. Kakashi followed its path upstream with his eye, noting tiny waterfalls here and there as the mountain rose, but determined no real origin.

            Kifu gestured and took a place at the front of the group as she followed the stream back towards the sun. “The river is much more forgiving at this end,” she explained. “It gains fury the longer it flows, especially after it joins up with the river between the Fire and Earth Tribes. It’s cold this close to the mountains, but gets a little warmer as we near the join.” She turned around to catch eyes with Remy and Kakashi. “That is the best place to bathe and wash clothes.”

            Kakashi tailed the group as they travelled along the water. He didn’t mind. In the back, he could escape perception and take a moment to assess. True, Kakashi had no qualms working with others, but spending time with anyone was always draining on his personal energy resources. It felt worse in the Tribes, as he was completely out of his element.

            Yet simultaneously, he felt like he could experience a more peaceful life with the Air Tribe. They didn’t exist to be at war with others, but to protect their own and stay hidden. Truly hidden, as opposed to his village’s namesake: Village Hidden in the Leaves. Kakashi wouldn’t have to make his path by maintaining and falling into the visage of an elite assassin. He could be a simple man with simple goals, finding fulfillment in less bloody tasks. Kakashi could live with that, right?

            Kifu eventually led them past the group of sheep that Remy and Kakashi had popped up near the day before. A single Tribesmemeber watched over them as they grazed. Takki gave the man a lazy wave, but no one made a move to interact further.

            “The sheep, besides our fellow Tribesmates, are our main goal as a Tribe. We must keep them safe so that they may sustain themselves and so that we may harvest their wool. The Air Tribe fashions a lot of fabrics from those sheep, and it’s one of our biggest sources of trade with the other Tribes. The sheep are easy to contain, so long as we keep them out of the woods and away from the joined river. While they can climb, they prefer wading through the tall grasses where the mountain is less steep.”

            Takki turned around to lock eyes with Remy. “They’re so boring,” he mouthed at the man.

            “How does a Tribe come across sheep?” Remy wondered, though by the tone of his voice, he didn’t care to get an answer.

            Kifu faltered for only a moment. “I never thought to ask. Many seasons ago, when I was still a Tribesling, we had a predator take out most of our flock. It threw the Tribe into a panic. Even on my excursions outside of the Tribe, which have been few,” she admitted, “I’ve never seen another sheep.”

            “They’re so dumb,” Takki mouthed at Remy.

            Kifu’s gaze then flew to Kakashi. “You’ve been very quiet. Do you have any questions?”

            Kakashi shook his head softly. For the most part, he was stuck in his own head. Figuring things out for himself.

            Kifu led the group on as the sun continued to rise in the air, hiking up the temperatures as it went. Kakashi even caught Remy scowling at his coat settled upon his shoulders. Takki quickly deteriorated, complaining every so often that he was too hot to continue. Kifu’s only consolation was offering to stop to let him drink from the stream.

            Trees began sprouting up before them, should they continue along the stream. They started small, appropriately spaced to offer them the best chance at life. Kakashi could tell that they grew in volume the further they’d walk. The woods appeared to mostly be on the Air Tribe side of the river, but a few trees managed their way across the river into Fire Tribe territory.

            The group, however, didn’t make it that far, before a short, lumbering figure appeared out of the tall grasses. Kifu stopped as soon as she saw the quadrupedal creature. Takki, taking advantage of the break, parked himself heavily into the grasses, breathing heavily and sweating profusely.

            “Hey, that one of dose creatures ya s’posed ta be protectin’ the sheep from?” Remy piped up.

            Kakashi perked up as soon as he could make out what it was. “It’s a friendly,” he commented.

            Kifu couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow in Kakashi’s direction before regarding Remy again. “Kakashi’s right. That’s Bin, Taya’s pet.” Her eyes scanned the distance, presumably searching for Taya.

            Takki stared wide-eyed at Kakashi. “How’d you know who Bin was?”

            “I didn’t,” Kakashi assured him.

            Remy frowned. “Great, so you got a connection to animals, hein? How’s ‘bout you stay ‘tween me an’ da … is dat a fuckin’ wolf?”

            “Just dogs,” Kakashi clarified calmly.

            As Bin neared the group, his size finally came into perspective. While from far away he looked like the average-sized wolf-type dog Kakashi was used to, as he got closer, he could understand Remy’s apprehension. The wolf was massive, easily standing taller than any of their waists. He casually approached Kifu and laid down at her feet. Kifu didn’t seem to notice as she continued looking for Bin’s master.

            “So Taya’s this freaky lady, right?” Takki explained. He directed his words to Remy. “She’s big and scary and terrifying. And she has this wolf to make things even freakier. I was told that she has him because his pack abandoned him or something, so he joined the Tribe just like any of us.” He eyed the canine warily. “He listens to Taya really well, but I don’t trust him.”

            “You don’t have anything to fear from Taya or Bin,” Kifu said, her tone suggesting that it wasn’t the first time she’s said anything on the point.

            “Of course you’d think that,” Takki argued. “Taya’s the one that brought you into the Tribe.”

            “And Jiogi.”

            “I can’t believe you wanted to join the Tribe after meeting those two,” Takki said with a light shake of his head.

            “Why? They’re great.”

            Takki’s expression suggested that he did not agree.

            Kakashi took a couple tentative steps forwards, his eye glued to Bin’s stationary form. The wolf didn’t appear to notice that he was being crept upon. At home, Kakashi had a special bond with an entire pack of dogs. That bond did not, unfortunately, seem to hold any merit in the new world. The wolf was, in fact, just a wolf. As Kakashi brought his scrutiny to an end, he could feel Remy’s eyes on his back, staring holes into him. Kakashi didn’t much care for people that didn’t like canids.

            Taya eventually appeared over the top of the hill where Bin first showed up. She didn’t bother moving quickly, but her gait suggested that her trip was important. Bin began panting not long after she crested the hill, but the humans in the group remained silent.

            “Taya,” Kifu greeted as soon as the woman was within earshot.

            Takki wasn’t joking, Kakashi realized, when he said that Taya was a large, imposing woman. She was tall with strong shoulders and large hips, as well as strengthened muscles well accustomed to work. Her resting expression was harsh, but it quickly flashed to relief upon seeing the Head Huntstress.

            “Kifu,” Taya said in turn. Her eyes immediately darted to Kifu’s entourage. “What’s going on?”

            Kifu’s expression fell, her eyelids sinking over her eyes. Turning, she gestured toward Kakashi. “We have new Tribeslings, so to speak. It’s a story I’ll tell you over a meal some time soon. This is Kakashi.” She switched her gesture to Remy. “That is Remy.” She dropped her hand. “I’m showing them the territory.”

            “You … were on a scouting trip?” Taya asked. Her voice was heavily laced with confusion.

            “No.”

            Taya nodded slowly, but her eyes did not portray understanding. Gathering her wits about her, she offered a small head bow to each man. “Well met.”

            “Echante,” Remy said, his voice more clipped than normal.

            Taya, tightly wound with apprehension, looked even more uncomfortable after the greetings. “Kifu, I must talk to you.”

            Kifu’s eyes whisked over Takki, Kakashi, and Remy. “Understood.” She reached out a hand toward Taya without actually touching her and motioned back up the hill. “Let us step away.” The two women retreated, walking much further than Kifu had during the sparring match the day before, as Kifu undoubtedly tried to remove herself from Kakashi’s hearing range.

            Takki groaned, rolling onto his back. Bin, still panting, looked over his shoulder as Taya and Kifu moved away, but stayed put. Remy made sure to place Kakashi directly between Bin and himself. Kakashi, forcibly remaining oblivious to Remy’s discomfort around the wolf, watched Kifu’s body language from his position.

            Kifu began their conversation stiffly, her arms crossed defensively over her chest. As Taya took longer to explain, her posture became even more rigid. Her arms dropped to her side, but every visible muscle remained tense. Whatever news Taya brought, Kakashi did not think was received well.

            “Get da feelin’ we in trouble, mon copain?” Remy asked after a lengthy stretch of silence. A light breeze played with the leaves in the trees, birds chirped from within the woods, but the sounds of nature were a sharp juxtaposition to the humans’ atmosphere.

            Kakashi said nothing, his eye fixed on nothing in particular. Yet, Takki oddly said nothing either, and it slowly became apparent that Remy was waiting on Kakashi’s answer. Remy did not ask a rhetorical question. The infuriating man requested conversation. Kakashi preferred his peace, to think silently. Situations were much easier to plan out when he wasn’t continuously bothered for attention. There was always someone to bother him, but Kakashi preferred Gai.

            Kakashi didn’t miss Remy’s flash of irritation upon his lack of reply. He shuffled with acute agitation, throwing the folds of his coat aside with increased vigor. Despite his earlier proclamations of having grown up in the bayou, or whatever that meant, he did appear to be personally cursing the heat, too proud to admit it to anyone else.

            Kifu’s expression, from what Kakashi could tell from the distance, switched to one of simmering anger. The woman tended to keep her emotions on her sleeve, she just never seemed to have very positive ones. Kakashi wasn’t sure how one could run the Tribe in such a state, as she claimed to do, but he supposed some emotion was better than closing oneself off from emotion, like he had for most of his life. Her anger wasn’t all-consuming.

            Remy exhaled noisily when Kifu swung back around to meet back up with her waiting Tribeslings. “Yah, dis ain’t good news.” Kakashi had to refrain from rolling his eyes. Remy sighed again and spoke with a low voice, “Gotta admit, mon ami, I ain’t keen on gettin’ wrapped up in der problems, hmm? Ain’t not’in’ holdin’ me here, ‘cept I wa’n’t raised ta live off’a da land.” He stared off to the nearest mountain peak. “T’ink I’d act’ly die left ta my own devices, much as I hate ta admit it.”

            Kakashi didn’t allow the silence to stretch for long, even though a little part of him really wished to further disgruntle the man. This was a conversation best had without Kifu’s forthcoming news. “At least you’re admitting that at all,” he told Remy with sincerity. He carefully slid his one eye to watch Remy as the man’s frown deepened. “It’s a good start,” Kakashi added for encouragement. For added touch, he blatantly smiled, squeezing his eye shut to best portray the emotion.

            Remy wrinkled his nose in distaste and turned his head blatantly away from Kakashi’s direction.

            “I apologize,” Kifu told the group as she neared, “but we’re returning to camp.”

            As if on her cue, Bin jumped to his feet to join back up with Taya. He trotted lazily with his head low against the heat.

            “Oh no,” Takki muttered sarcastically. He rolled to his side and barely made eye contact with Kifu. “No more walking in this heat? The tragedy.”

            “Unfortunately, another and more pressing matter has been brought to my attention,” Kifu explained, as if Takki wasn’t poking fun at their trip’s interruption.

            Remy hummed. “More pressin’ den two adult Tribes … uh, -lings?” he asked mockingly.

            Kifu visibly had to keep herself from sneering at him. “Yes.”

            “What’s it dis time, hein? Invaders?”

            “Possibly,” Kifu said, deadpan.

            Remy puffed in amusement, but didn’t press her buttons further.

            “Quickly now,” Kifu demanded of them, and took off after Taya and Bin in a smooth jog.

            Kakashi flicked his eye between Remy and Takki, acutely interested in their reactions to the physical dismissal. Takki groaned dramatically as he clambered to his feet. Remy was far from amused.

            “She knows I can’t run that far,” Takki protested with a hint of dread creeping into his voice. “I can be really fast sometimes, but I can’t run that far.”

            “Do what you can,” Kakashi encouraged.

            “Why? Wha’s she gonna do if we don’t run af’er her?” Remy demanded flatly.

            Takki’s eyes dramatically widened at Remy’s unspoken proposal. “No, that’s not an option,” he said with nervous quickness. Spurred on by that thought, Takki scrambled after Kifu with unsustainable speed. Kakashi watched his receding form for a long moment, silent, before offering Remy a shrug and following after. He didn’t pour speed into his gait, and he appeared to move quite effortlessly, but his pace still impressed. Kakashi vaguely heard Remy groan behind him, but with a covert look behind, even Remy trailed behind the disorganized group.

            Soon enough, Kakashi overtook Takki. He deliberated about matching paces with the kid for a moment, surging ahead in his debate. Takki’s chest heaved, his eyes bugged, and he appeared thoroughly miserable. The day was already dangerously hot and judging by the way Takki conducted himself throughout the morning, Takki didn’t deal well with the heat standing still. Belatedly taking pity, Kakashi slashed the length of his stride and trotted beside the panting kid.

            “Hey, are you doing alright?” Kakashi asked. He was thoroughly aware of how unwell Takki appeared, but concerned words usually went a long way.

            Takki vigorously shook his head. His breathing immediately came out in more ragged gasps. Sweat poured profusely from his brow into his eyes, and Takki spent more time blinking away the painful streams of saltwater than seeing where he was going.

            “I admire your enthusiasm, but maybe you should take a moment to pull yourself back together,” Kakashi suggested. “You’ll end up hurting yourself like this.”

            A look of pure pain crossed Takki’s face before he squeezed his eyes shut and immediately came to a dead stop.

            Kakashi grimaced, grateful for the mask that hid the expression. He dug his heals in and spun around, facing Takki but refusing to track back to console him. “Okay, you need to keep walking.” He winced as Takki’s face contorted. “Trust me. You don’t want to stop.”

            Remy trotted up at that moment, his expression stormy. “What y’all doin’?”

            “You don’t have to stop,” Kakashi said implicitly.

            “An’ show up at da tribe wit’out backup? Nah.” His frown deepened as he took in Takki’s red, gasping face. “Ya okay, gosse?”

            “He needs to walk before he seizes up,” Kakashi said.

            A whine escaped from Takki’s mouth.

            Remy threw his face to the sky and grumbled. “He right. Ya should listen t’ him on dis one.” Remy offered a soft pat on the shoulder when Takki finally convinced his muscles to move again. Even as they moved, he didn’t remove the hand as a small act of solidarity. Kakashi turned around as they neared so as not to fall behind.

            As the slope steepened, Takki’s pace slowed, but his breath evened out. “Kifu expects too much from me,” Takki lamented once he could properly breathe. “She – she’s never going to let me become a real Tribesmember because she expects too much. I can’t be the person she wants me to be. I’m not strong or fast or really good at anything! She always asks me to do things she knows I can’t do.”

            Remy cocked his head to the side, staring at the kid from the corner of his eye. “Dat’s yer problem?”

            “She’s the mentor assigned to me!” Takki exclaimed, his voice edging on hysterics. “I have to do what she tells me to do because she’s Kifu. Everyone says Neto’s the leader, but Kifu’s the one that runs the Tribe! If I can’t do what she thinks are simple tasks – she’ll never … never …”

            “’Ey, listen. She jus’ one person, gosse. An’ she ain’t leader material. Ya ain’t gonna be stuck in life ‘cuz she says so.”

            Takki swung his leg to the side to kick a small rock aside as he walked. “You’re too new to know. That’s not how this place works. She – sometimes she makes me miss my brother and sister. Y’know, more than the guilt already makes me.”

            “Ehh,” Remy drawled out with uncertainty.

            “Sometimes we ask things of our students that they think is impossible, but we know they’re fully capable of,” Kakashi cut in for Remy. “And sometimes our students surpass our expectations of them and surprise us.” He offered Takki a comforting eye smile. “We’re not always straightforward as teachers because our job is to prepare you for the world. But we do it because we believe in you.”

            “She doesn’t,” Takki said. “She’s never happy with me.”

            “You sound very sure of that,” Kakashi commented.

            “Yeah!” Takki barked out a laugh. “I’m – I’m always too impatient for her. Not good enough. She tells me to work on my exercises over and over and over again. Won’t let me move on!”

            “That’s not a bad thing,” Kakashi said softly. “Practice is good. It can make you stronger.”

            Remy drew out a long sigh. “She ain’t da best at peoplein’, gosse, but she really ain’t been unkind t’ ya.”

            Takki bent his head down and squeezed his eyes shut. “I know. She’s … she’s the nicest one in the Tribe to me. I just know I’m still not good enough for her.”

            “Gosse. Takki. Why?”

            “I … I just said … she – she wouldn’t keep telling me to do the same thing if I was.”

            “These exercises,” Kakashi supplied, “they’re meant to be built off of – or used alone. They’re a base to a proper, well-rounded education. You mean the ones she had you go through yesterday, right?” He didn’t wait for Takki’s affirmation. “They’re preliminary to the combat skills you want to learn.”

            “I don’t see how.”

            Remy rubbed the back of his neck. “Look, I ain’t had a proper schoolin’ in whatever dese two did fer fightin’, I guess, but he ain’t wrong. Der’s basics ta everyt’in’. An’ balance an’ breathin’ kinda important fer everyt’in’. I’m self-taught in most da t’ings, an’ I still had ta teach myself dese t’ings. Slow down, kid. Fightin’ ain’t all it cracked up ta be anyway. Only got me in trouble, y’see.”

            Kakashi squinted at the ledge in the mountain where the Air Tribe carved in their camp. “I’m gathering that fighting isn’t very important here, too. I’m sure you think it’s more exciting than anything else you can do here, but it’s not what makes you significant.”

            “Tribesmembers spar all the time,” Takki argued.

            “Sure, fer fun, ya?”

            “Judging from Kifu’s reaction to Taya’s news, your Tribes don’t come across enemies very often. It’s not like the threats we regularly face from back home. Sparring, well, it’s as much a social construct as it is a skill. You need to be easier on yourself.” Takki’s sudden levels of anxiety weren’t what he would call a constructive base for his ambitions. He needed placating and reassurance above all. 

            “I had ta fight ta stay fed on da streets as a kid. You got people ta look after ya.”

            Takki pursed his lips. “You’re both agreeing on this one. That’s kind of scary.”

            Remy snorted. “Dis da most words I heard outta dis one, gosse.” A brief look of hesitation crossed Remy’s face as his eyes flashed briefly to Kakashi. “Look, ya look out for yer tribe, ya? But first an’ foremost, you come first. Gotta look out fer number one.”

            Kakashi was certain that his frown was visible through his mask. He did not agree with that sentiment. Kakashi was raised with an unwavering dedication to Konoha. That loyalty defined his entire life. It defined most shinobi from Konohagakure, in fact.

            Remy grumbled, and Kakashi was sure he missed a scowl from the irritable man. “Don’ get yer panties in a bunch, mon ami. Dat don’t mean ya go betrayin’ someone as soon as t’ings get tough. Means ya still gotta take care of yourself.” It took Kakashi a moment to realize Remy was solely addressing him, not Takki, with these words. “I’s a t’ing lot’sa heroin’ type ferget about. Believe me, I’d know. I ain’t ‘xactly da self-sacrificin’ type, but mah girlfriend?” Remy shrugged. “Ya ain’t no help ta no one iffa ya forgot ta take care of yerself an’ ya break down.” Remy’s eyes shot back to Takki and a lopsided grin appeared on his lips. “So’s pushin’ yerself ‘till ya can’t breathe, gosse? Yer hurtin’ everyone ‘round ya dat way. Fitness ain’t somet’in’ ya pick up on overnight.”

            Oh, if only Naruto had heard those words. He’d have ignored them. With that student, all Kakashi could do was set up precautions all around him and hope for the best. There was no stopping him.

            Takki, it appeared, was at least partially swayed by their gentle lecture. Takki needed reassurance and gentle praises. Kakashi was sure Kifu knew this, but she was too distracted to administer at the moment. There wasn’t much else explanation as to why Takki wanted to please her so much. For the most part, she nurtured him and gently guided him to becoming a better adult. Not that Kakashi would use gentle as a descriptor word for her.

            Takki didn’t try darting ahead again, bent on trying to please his mentor with a quick pace. Placated, both Kakashi and Remy let him set the slower step.

            When they reached camp, no one stood near the entrance to greet them. In fact, the center camp was completely vacant. There was no sign of Kifu, Taya, or Bin. No sign of another Tribesmember working on their craft. Simply silence.

            “Wow, I wonder where everyone is,” Takki commented.

            “Not usually like dis, huh?” Remy guessed.

            Takki only shook his head.

            “Funny dat she tell us ta hurry, an’ there ain’t no one ta greet us when we make it.”

            “She wanted everyone in one place,” Kakashi said, matter-of-fact. It was a lot easier to command a squad and brief everyone when they were all on one place. “She’s prepping for war.”

            “That’s ridiculous,” Takki sputtered. “You just said – you said – that fighting isn’t all important.”

            “An’ sometimes necessary, gosse,” Remy answered for Kakashi.

            Kakashi turned to regard a Tribesmember appearing from the main pathway heading back into the mountain. He recognized her as Rimana. Rimana blinked in what appeared to be surprise. “Oh – Kifu said you were far away. I thought you’d be longer.”

            Takki pointedly crossed his arms at her.

            “Kifu, Taya, and Amina are with Neto,” Rimana explained, as if that explained very much. “She told me to keep an eye out for you. How are you holding up?” She looked between the three of them, and came to a slow stop a comfortable talking distance away.

            Remy squinted at her as if regarding someone he considered stupid. Takki didn’t drop his cross expression. Kakashi supposed the answer was up to him. “We’re fine. What is it you need from us?” he offered.

            “That’s not up to me,” Rimana said with a small shrug. She turned to look off over the mountain, not that it offered much of a view. “Kifu will be our acting commander. Telk is expected to be her second in command. He’ll take care of strategy from behind front lines if it comes to it. People like me, we do as he says. This … this isn’t our first time dealing with bad people outside of our boundaries. They have practice in this.”

            “You know what’s goin’ on?” Remy asked, genuine interest coating his tone.

            “Amina briefly explained it to me,” Rimana answered. Kakashi couldn’t help the small smile that quirked invisibly at his mouth. She’d answered Remy’s question, but she didn’t answer the question between the lines.

            “Oh – oh!” Takki said excitedly. He bounced on the balls of his feet. “Is it the same people as before? The retireds were telling me about that last war – against the slavers, right?”

            Remy rounded wildly on Takki at this, words forming at his lips, but no sound coming through his voice.

            “Ah, no,” Rimana said reproachfully. “They’ve nothing to do with them. That threat is eliminated. Three times now, and for good.”

            Remy cleared his throat and swallowed for good measure. “Hold on, dis a lot ta unpack.” Again, Kakashi agreed with the man. But he wasn’t going to be the one to bring it up. “So, startin’ off wit’ da big question: slavers, s’il tu plaît?”

            Takki nodded enthusiastically, but stopped abruptly when Rimana cut a hand sharply through the air. “We had a situation many, many seasons back with a group of slavers, an organized group of cruel men, that learned of our existence through a leak and tried to take all of the Tribes as … well, slaves. We eventually had to declare war and wipe them out before they wiped us out.”

            “Dat’s a pretty wild story, chere.”

            Rimana shrugged noncommittally.

            “If it’s not the same group as before, do you know who it is?” Kakashi asked. “Do we know what we’re up against?”

            Rimana bit her bottom lip and took in a deep breath. “Amina didn’t get to telling me that. I’m not sure if they really know yet. We’ll know the direction Neto wished to take once they’re done with their meeting.”

            “Who’s really in charge here? Neto? Or Kifu?” Remy asked with heavy suspicion.

            Rimana perked a brow at him. “Neto is our Tribe leader. Kifu is supposed to be the Head Huntstress. She’s also acting Head Warrior. We think Neto’s too afraid to assign someone with power that position again after – ” She cut herself off by clearing her throat. “Neto gets final say in everything.”

            “Wonder why we don’t get ta meet dis Neto,” Remy told Kakashi out of the side of his mouth.

            One of the men Kakashi recognized from his drop into this world then appeared from behind Rimana. He was the lithe one that ran off to find Kifu. He lit up upon seeing them. “Oh good, you’re back,” he breathed in relief. “Kifu told me to watch you until she’s figured things out.”

            “All’a us?” Remy asked with a little surprise.

            “No, just Takki, sorry.” He smiled with no humor. More of a grimace. “I’m afraid I wouldn’t be able to handle more than one charge.”

            “Ya ain’t offendin’ me wit’ dat.”

            “Why can’t Takki take care of Takki?” Takki demanded of Baku.

            Baku threw him a skeptical look. “You’re serious? Come on. You need to come back here and listen to Büks’s preparations, too.”

            “Büks is preparing – for what?” Takki asked.

            “Everything. Büks has seen war and he isn’t losing anyone. His words. Come on.”

            Takki grumbled, minimally, and followed Baku back behind the huts. Curiosity itched at Kakashi. He wanted to know what was back there. It’s where everyone always disappeared, but it didn’t look like there was much space behind the front huts. It was a miniature mystery, and he wanted to know the answer to it.

            Rimana blew out a small breath once Takki passed her. “I’m to keep you two company,” she said with a wan smile.

            Remy hummed softly in the back of his throat. “Mmm yeah?”

            Rimana’s expression in reply was not amused.

            “Kifu is convinced that you two are warriors. If this is to come to war – will you help us fight?” Rimana asked seriously, completely sidestepping Remy’s failed attempt.

            Kakashi didn’t see much choice in it. He’d fought worse for less, he supposed. “I’ll do what she asks of me.”

            Remy rolled his eyes. “S’long as dis ain’t a bloody standoffish mess.”

            “We don’t revel in killing.”

            “Good. Me neither, chere. Won’t do it for no one.”

            “I wouldn’t ask anyone to do anything they’re not comfortable with.” Kifu’s voice. Kakashi didn’t hear her coming. She emerged from the secondary path leading back into darkness, her expression tight. “Rimana – ”

            Rimana bowed her head and took a step back into something more squared. “Kifu.”

            “Rimana, you’ve brought them to the same understanding?”

            She flicked a small smile at Kifu in response.

            Kifu nodded and turned to her two charges. “Remy, you’re staying to watch Takki.” Her expression hardened further. “You two will stay in camp and carry out everything asked of you by any Tribesmember, understand?” she demanded.

            Kakashi shuffled under her gaze despite himself. While she didn’t necessarily intimidate him, her raw fierceness still left something to be said and reckoned for. His skin even crawled once her look switched to him.

            “Kakashi, you’re with me and Taya.”

            “Hey now, ‘scuse me,” Remy protested.

            Kifu snapped back to him. “Quiet. You’re not fit for this job.”

            “Yeah, chasseuse, dat so?” Remy demanded. “Why so?”

            Kakashi lazily looked behind Kifu, to where Taya had joined their circle. He surveyed her up and down, as if it was his first time seeing her. She was a sturdy woman, that was true, but she also gave an impression of danger to the trained eye. She didn’t like to waste movement, even though at first glance, she appeared to be more easy-going than Kifu. Kakashi knew how deceiving that could be.

            His single eye settled back to Kifu. He was pretty certain he knew why Remy was selected to stay behind. Her mission was not one of simple recon. While Remy was physically capable of what Kakashi assumed of their mission parameters, he was far from mentally or emotionally able.

            “I don’t have to explain myself to you,” Kifu retorted. “You will not get in any Tribesmembers way – or Telk is ordered to make you stand down. Do you understand, Remy?”

            Remy drew his lips in a line as he weighed his options. The man truly had issues with authority, and Kakashi was sure Kifu’s gruff attitude only served to put him at further odds than where he naturally sat.

            Rimana’s expression all but shut down. Kakashi suspected that as rough around the edges Kifu may be, she didn’t often show a side so blatantly do-or-die. Kakashi didn’t yet have the luxury of seeing her relaxed, but even the other Tribesmembers were starting to act on edge around her.

            Certain that Remy had the decency to keep his mouth shut, Kifu stared Kakashi directly in the eye. “We may be gone for a few suns,” she told him. “I want to determine their goals to assure we’re really in trouble. I’m correct in assuming you’re capable?”

            Kakashi stared at her impassively. He had the distinct feeling that her words came loaded. She asked more than she spoke and offered more to him as a stranger than most people she knew. Tipping his chin down, Kakashi accepted the responsibility of her expectations. “Of course,” he said. Beside him, Remy scoffed.

            “Good,” Kifu said quickly. She turned her head to Taya. “I will have Taya help you gather supplies for our expedition. I need to finish making arrangements with everyone else.” Her eyes darted to the sky as she ran her teeth over her bottom lip. “We’ll be over the mountain before the sun kisses its peak,” she promised.

            Taya’s brow jumped at Kifu’s timetable, but she didn’t comment. As soon as the brief look of surprise passed, it turned into a heavy, grounding breath. “Okay. I have everything I need still on me.” She stepped away from the group, her eyes locked on to Kakashi. “Why don’t you follow me so that you can grab supplies for yourself?” She glanced over to Kifu. “Do you want me to grab you anything specific?”

            “No.”

            Taya dipped her chin down before breaking away, striding determinedly over to that path Kakashi itched to explore. He supposed her words offered him permission to follow her towards their secrets. Perhaps even explicitly so. Without wasting a beat, Kakashi strode after her, hands in pockets.

            The stone sides of the buildings immediately swallowed him up, bathing him in their deep shadow. Kakashi nonchalantly continued, his eye taking in all the details of the stones as he went. The hall, despite being an obviously important part of the Tribe’s camp, felt reverently sacred. Was this an expedited initiation into the Tribe? Because Kifu felt like she could use his skillset, without even truly knowing the extent of it? Or did she not trust leaving him behind because of his history of an assassin? Though, should that be the case, Kakashi reasoned, she wouldn’t allow Taya to show him around the very area they wished to protect most.

            An inky doorway opened to Kakashi’s right. As he passed, he peered inside, but couldn’t make anything out. The barracks, perhaps? Food storage? Apparently not important, for Taya continued forward before ducking to her left. Kakashi followed momentarily, and felt slightly taken aback at everything the Tribe had been hiding. He had no idea why the area they’d congregated in before was called center camp, when everything obviously converged to this area. Nearly everyone he had met, as well as multiple others he’d never seen, milled about this part of their camp. More buildings ringed the entire open space, which amounted to even more open space than the cliff-side area. Sheer rock backed the side of the camp opposite of where he could spot the rooftop to Kifu’s hut. Their society truly was built into the side of the mountain, melding seamlessly with it in some places.

            Kakashi stepped foot into this part of camp tentatively, blatantly looking about with interest. Taya, sensing his hesitation, stopped and turned to face him.

            “You’ll want water skins,” Taya told him, matter-of-fact. Her eyes flicked over his visage. “I assume you keep most everything else you need on you already.” Kakashi may have had a lot of pockets, but did his pockets suggest that he was eternally prepared? Interesting. “Is there anything else we can provide for you?”

            Kakashi swallowed, careful to uphold a somewhat disinterested front. “For a three day trip? I’ll be fine.” The land appeared to be rich with water. Was he wrong in this assumption?

            “You don’t – want water skins?” Taya asked with a surprised, fluttery blink.

            Kakashi shrugged. “How will food rations be covered?” He was sure that he already knew the answer, but it was better to unambiguously have it mapped out beforehand. Before he was left without nutrition in the middle of an unknown land. Bringing down the team. Kifu was right: he didn’t know their customs whatsoever. On the flip side, unlike Remy, Kakashi was fully capable of taking care of himself if it came down to it. He’d done so since he was six years old.

            “That, Kifu and I can do.”

            They didn’t expect Kakashi to help provide? It felt off-balanced. Unfair, even. While a large portion of his life was spent with a special operations assassin’s corp where everyone was capable of taking care of themselves, his more recent years were spent with children. Genin. Those children, despite training as baby ninja, almost entirely relied on him to take care of them.

            Somehow, an intense sense of overwhelmed came about him for the first time since blinking into this dimension. Realm. Whatever it was. He continued to restructure his functioning life for those around him, simply because they asked it of him, and now he genuinely felt overwhelmed. This time, he wasn’t the sole proprietor of responsibility. It wasn’t a role he was accustomed to. Everything he had built his identity upon didn’t actually matter here.

            “Oh, I see,” Kakashi said. Words felt appropriate for a response, even though he genuinely didn’t know which words belonged.

            Taya briefly scrunched her brow, her eyes darting side to side over him. “Is there – anything else you may need?”

            “Boy,” a new voice interjected. Kakashi didn’t turn his head to look at him, but he could see gnarled hands held before the incoming man. With his accumulated years, Kakashi guessed that he was a mere boy in comparison. “You must be one of those new ones Kifu’s freaking out about.”

            “Jiogi,” Taya said with no little amount of suffering.

            Jiogi waved one of those malformed hands, with the fingers and joints bent at odd angles from age. “Taya, you ain’t asking the right questions. I trained you better than this.” He paused, and Kakashi felt his scrutiny. “And Kifu.”

            “You didn’t – ”

            “I trained Kumji, and he certainly didn’t fail her.” He paused again as Taya levelled an almost incredulous stare at him. “Well, in that regard.”

            “What are the right questions?” Kakashi asked of the know-it-all, genuinely curious.

            “Ya wanna die out there?”

            That wasn’t the direction Kakashi expected. “Ah, no.”

            “You think Taya and Kifu know what they’re doin’?” Jiogi scowled at himself. “Somehow.”

            Kakashi raised his brows. “Yes.”

            “Then ya should probably listen to ‘em, right?”

            “Jiogi – ”

            Jiogi held up a hand to deflect Taya, with a small amount of difficulty. “You think you’re smarter than them?”

            Oh, that question was a trap Kakashi had no interest in blundering through. “Is drinkable water in small supply on the other side of these mountains?” Kakashi asked. “I am a believer in coming prepared, but also of packing only what I need to keep my person free for movement.”

            Jiogi grunted. “Yer one of them hand-to-hand specialists, ain’t ya? Never liked close combat, myself.” Did news of Kakashi’s aptitude precede him? Or was Jiogi making an educated guess?

            Taya cleared her throat, more for dramatic effect. “There will be plenty of places to rehydrate, yes.” Her eyes flashed back to Jiogi. “He’s not going to die.”

            “No, I have no interest in doing that,” Kakashi confirmed again.

            “Ya forest raised, boy?” Jiogi asked sternly.

            Kakashi smiled, letting it carry to his visible eye. “I am.”

            Jiogi harrumphed.

            Gently laying a hand on Jiogi’s shoulder, Taya subtly pushed him away. “Kifu wouldn’t have included him on a –” her eyes darted aside, assessing the nearby crowd “– a mission such as this if he wasn’t an asset.”

            “He’s been here, what? A day?” Jiogi grumbled.

            “Kifu’s not stupid, either, Jiogi. We do have a deadline to meet, sir. If you’d go back to what you were doing….”

            Jiogi batted her hand away, though he did begin waddling off at her blatant suggestion. “I don’t need you patronizing me.”

            Taya smiled, though it came across as a little forced. Once she was sure that Jiogi wasn’t coming back with his unsolicited advice, she returned her full attention to Kakashi. “You’re certain you’re prepared enough?” She stepped closer and lowered her voice. “This isn’t going to be a simple recon mission. Not with Kifu. I know what she said, but I’ve known Kifu longer than anyone. It’s not my place to question her judgment in bringing a fresh stranger along, but I hope that she isn’t misleading you. If this gets ugly – if it gets bloody, we get separated, or the mission carries out longer than expected – will we be able to count on you? Will you be able to count on yourself with what you’ve brought?”

            These people were serious in an almost comedic way. “I won’t let you down,” Kakashi promised.

            Taya studied him for a moment longer before nodding in acceptance. “If you say.”

            Not enough of Kakashi’s reputation preceded him. Now he felt patronized. “Is that all?” Kakashi asked. She must have brought him back here for the supplies she thought he needed, but they could have had this conversation in the Air Tribe’s center camp.

            She looked quickly to the sky, finding the sun’s trajectory. “I need to swap out a few of my things for the trip. I packed heavily for travel last time. I’m packing for a fight this time.” Taya was saying if as a pleasantry; she fully expected Kifu to lead them into an attack. Almost like old times.

            “Anything else from me?” Kakashi clarified.

            “No, I guess not.” She checked the sky again, as if expecting the sun to have slipped significantly in those few seconds. “Oh. Has Kifu fed you? She forgets to feed people.”

            Kakashi debated over his answer for a long moment. Technically, Kifu did feed them as they trekked, but she tapered off her offerings as the sun rose and beat down upon them. If Kakashi said no, would those snacks be all he had time for now that Kifu had a mission? “Earlier,” Kakashi replied.

            “Get cakes from someone,” Taya told him. Before Kakashi had a chance to do anything, she flagged someone down. “Juga. Kakashi needs some cakes.”

            Juga, in turn, flagged down a child. “Amina – cakes, please.” Amina dipped her head and hurried off.

            “Make sure you’re back in center camp ready to go before long,” Taya said. “Eat now or take the cakes with you. They hold up well.” Kakashi didn’t acknowledge her, but she turned away anyway, her fingers working at some of the ties around her body. It looked like extra water skins.

            Kakashi watched the Tribe buzz around him, trying to glean their habits and motives. Some people cooked, contributing to a grand evening meal for everyone. Some people organized, setting up plans for fortifying their land and assets if battle reached them. Kakashi could tell which of those in the Tribe had dealt with war before. The children, it seemed, had not, though they carried out orders well, even if they didn’t come directly from Mai.

            Amina returned to Kakashi bearing a small cloth sack with cakes. Kakashi thanked her and tucked them away into one of his pouches. He didn’t need to eat yet. He’d rather save it for later after his squad settled down. Or, if the food preserved as well as Taya expected, for later in the mission if things got hairy.

            Emergency food on hand, Kakashi heeded Taya’s words and returned to center camp. Remy sat on one of the logs around the unlit fire, playing another card game with a scowl etched on his face. Bin lay across the camp with patience, waiting for his master to return. Rimana stood uncomfortably near the camp entrance, pointedly looking away from Remy.

            In the time Kakashi had to turn around to watch his back, both Taya and Kifu appeared from out of different stone huts, converging onto center camp. “Ready?” Kifu asked, her eyes flicking between Taya and Remy with that same fierceness as before. She wore an unstrung bow over her back with a handful of arrows in a quiver on the hip opposite of her knife. The arm braces were back, and she’d found a simple leather jerkin, but she didn’t opt for much more protection than that.

            “You know how much I like to keep moving,” Taya said with a humorless smile.

            Kifu’s gaze rested on Kakashi. “Ready,” he confirmed.

            “Let’s go,” Kifu ordered.

            Taya nodded and led the way. Bin heeled immediately on her way past Rimana. Taya chose a more treacherous path across Tribe territory than Takki had, heading in the complete opposite direction Takki had taken Kifu’s group in the morning. The sun warmed Kakashi’s back. The dead air carried periodic birdsong, none of it melodious nor euphoric.

            Taya wound them along a path only she could pick out, surely finding firm footholds with every step despite the deepening drop beside them. Kakashi and Kifu followed her single-file, silent and heavy with expectation. Bin chose his own way. The path bucked and slithered, as if trying to shake them, but their footing remained true with Taya’s guidance. Eventually Taya wound them steadily upwards until they reached the mountain ridge, and she began the long decent downwards.

            From the opposite mountainside, Kakashi got a real feel for how large this mountain range was. The Tribes lived in a small mountain valley, but the mountain fell for much longer until it was swallowed by rolling forest. The towering rock cast a long shadow over the foliage, eating away any friendliness or welcoming. The forest beckoned their fates, waiting to swallow them and never return them. Taya and Bin led them to that promised end with confident ease.

            An axe, not carved for the most efficient of wood chopping, swung at Taya’s hips, tied firmly in a leather sheath around her waist. Its presence didn’t break the carefully crafted canvas of Taya’s clothing. Unlike Kifu, who appeared to wear whatever was easiest and most convenient, Taya wore artistically fashioned leather specifically shaped for her body. It moved with her, covered her most vulnerable areas while allowing her to move unhindered. No one else had anything like it in the Tribe. Her water skin and supply pouches seamlessly completed the look, all layered smoothly in strategic areas around her torso.

            Taya didn’t move with the lithe shiftiness of a hunter like Kifu, but her gait remained smooth and soft footed. She knew the boundaries of her body and slipped through foliage and over rock like it was second nature.

            She kept a brusque pace despite the treacherous terrain, confident that her small entourage would keep up as the sun continued dropping beyond the mountains and dipped into the trees. Just as twilight threatened to overtake them, the mountain’s steep decent slowed, and the rocks gave way to heavier vegetation where they could more easily hide themselves should the need arise. They’d never been wide open on their way down the mountain, but Kakashi could sense Kifu’s slight relaxation as their surroundings thickened. Kakashi couldn’t help but feel a little more at home amongst the older trees.

            Taya halted their trek for the night with a curt nod of permission from Kifu. They stripped themselves of their weapons and small packs, and settled down quickly. Taya disappeared with Bin into the trees while an unconcerned Kifu passed out in the softest place she could find. Kakashi pulled out one of the cakes Amina found for him, and followed Kifu’s cue.

            They began moving again before the sun made it through the trees. Taya returned with her canine companion silently sometime after Kakashi had fallen asleep. Friendly yellow crept into the sky as they progressed forward until it was replaced by a pleasant blue. Before long, the canopy hardly broke to see the sky at all.

            Kifu flitted around like she had on her informative expedition with Remy and Takki, shoving things into her mouth all the way.

            “What information are you hoping to find?” Kakashi asked as they moved.

            “Whether they’re a threat or not,” Kifu told him through whatever she was working on chewing.

            “How will you determine that?”

            “They are a threat,” Taya said.

            Kifu rolled her eyes with a small shrug. “Whether they’ll be a threat to us or not.”

            “And how - ?” Kakashi started.

            “By how destructive they are. Kumji’s group, they leveled everything in their way on their path toward us. Once Kumji failed, and Renza failed, and whatever mole they had in the Water Tribe failed, they came at us full force. I’m not letting it get that far.”

            “No one’s going to try anything like that again,” Taya said without too much emotion.

            “Well, no.”

            “So how will you decide if they’re too destructive?”

            “Taya said they’re on a path in our direction.”

            “By the looks of it, a bloody path,” Taya added.

            “That’s what I don’t like,” Kifu said. “If they’re on their way to the mountains, and they’re killing everyone on the way, what’s to say they won’t scale the mountain and try to eliminate us?”

            “I get that,” Kakashi said. “How will you decide this? By watching them? Or do you have a plan?”

            “Ah.” Kifu observed the ground pass under her bare feet for a few heartbeats.

            “No,” Kakashi supplied for her.

            “I couldn’t get around their raze group in the front,” Taya confessed. “I know they’re bigger, but I wasn’t going to risk losing Amina doing it. We need to first figure out how big they are.”

            Kifu nodded. “Kumji’s group was only a couple dozen men big. If this threat is bigger, we need to figure out how to handle it before they’re on us.”

            “Kumji’s group – that’s the slavers?” Kakashi asked.

            “Yes.” Kakashi swore he heard Kumji’s name mentioned in another context, but with everything so foreign to him all around, he wasn’t recalling from where immediately.

            “Is that all the experience you have in war?”

            Taya looked back to stare at Kifu for a moment. “For the most part. We don’t live to fight. We just need to protect what we’ve made for ourselves.”

            “Well, yes. I need to know what I’m working with,” Kakashi told them. “Leaving your borders for intelligence is a bold move.”

            “We cannot afford to wait,” Kifu hissed.

            “Peace,” Taya muttered.

            “I get that,” Kakashi said. “You need to plan this out carefully so that you do get all the information you need, we’re still alive to deliver the information back to your village, and we don’t declare war in meantime.”

            “And what exactly is that information we need?” Kifu asked snidely.

            “Peace, Kifu,” Taya demanded with a little more force than before.

            “Well, I’m asking you,” Kakashi pointed out calmly.

            “I don’t – ” Kifu pressed her lips together and breathed sharply through her nose. “I don’t know. I don’t know what I’m doing. This wasn’t my job.”

            Taya flashed Kifu a sympathetic look before refocusing on leading them forward.

            “This isn’t my job,” Kifu amended with no little force.

            “I can help,” Kakashi offered.

            “Yeah?” Kifu barked. Her following expression suggested she didn’t mean her words to come out as harsh as they had.

            Kakashi had to figure out how to play this so that he didn’t accidentally take over and make an enemy of Kifu. He didn’t want to take charge, but he had a fleeting feeling that if he didn’t subtly do so, Kifu would make some stupid mistake and doom her people. The people that had taken Kakashi in within an eye blink. “I can,” Kakashi assured her. He made firm eye contact before smiling. When he opened his eye back up, Kifu’s expression was anything but reassured.

            “We reach the raze band first,” Kifu planned deadpan. Her eyes bore into Kakashi. “We determine their size, their mission, and their dispatch point. I’ll accept guidance between these points. We reassess from there.”

            Kakashi returned his attention to forward, watching Taya passively. Her posture felt subtly different to Kakashi. More tense. Bin continued at his leisurely trot, unaffected by his master’s mood shift. “Very well,” Kakashi said.

            No one had many more words as Taya led them steadily deeper through the forest. Kakashi felt a small sense of astonishment at just how far these people travelled outside of their borders. Taya’s direction was either very off or impeccable, and Kakashi knew it had to have been the former option.

            When night threatened to take over the forest, Kifu broke their trek off earlier than the night before, disappearing soon after. Taya asked if Kakashi could and would produce a fire, and likewise wandered off, leaving Bin behind. By the time Kakashi had fostered sustainable flames, Kifu returned with small game. She threw one whole to Bin before she set to work on cleaning the remaining carcasses. Taya came back with handfuls of goods from the forest, gathered in a large, broad leaf. “Help yourself,” Kifu instructed Kakashi without looking up from what she was doing.

            Taya buried the flames after the meal, destroying any evidence of its existence, and throwing the squad into the deep twilight atmosphere.

            The following day, Taya didn’t have to lead them as far. The sun shone strong through the forest canopy as they approached evident sounds of others.

            “Screams,” Kifu observed with malice.

            Eradication, Kakashi figured, by the sound of it.

            “Taya, will Bin strike?” Kifu asked.

            “Definitely not.”

            “Approach with caution. Stay hidden. Kakashi, with me,” Kifu ordered.

            She took off into the trees faster than Kakashi thought possible with these people. His people, sure, he’d expect it. They could utilize their chakra for inhuman feats, including but not limited to extreme speed and tree climbing. Kifu didn’t have that to rely on, but only balance and years of practice. Kakashi wouldn’t admit that he scrambled after her, but he did end up following her with less decorum than he typically exuded.

            As it turned out, travelling through trees not born from the first Hokage’s magics, without use of chakra, was a lot more difficult than Kakashi would have expected. By no means was it outside of his abilities, but he had to actually try to keep up with Kifu. While he didn’t expect anyone to hear their approach over the sound of torment, he wanted to make sure he wasn’t crashing through the foliage loudly enough to alert anyone of their approach.

            When Kifu stopped, she’d pulled herself into a tree branch several feet about the ground. She squatted tensely, her hand gripping the hilt of her knife with white knuckles. Kakashi slowed his pace as he approached, eye on her rather than the massacre laid out before them. Blood painted the village while the shrieks of the victims set the atmosphere. Nothing Kakashi hadn’t seen before, and nothing he needed to see again. Kifu’s reaction was more his concern.

            She broke apart before him. She watched with sheer horror at first before the enormity of the injustices took over. Her weight shifted forward until she was balanced onto her toes, ready to shift into attack. Kakashi couldn’t risk it. He couldn’t wait for her to come to her own senses. If she took off, he wouldn’t have the speed to stop her, and the mission would be laid to waste along with this particular village.

            Kakashi kicked off the base of the tree with intentions to join Kifu in the tree, but her equilibrium swung forward before Kakashi had fully released. He managed to redirect himself forward rather than upward, and grabbed her into a bear hug from behind to stop her. Her momentum temporarily off-balanced him, but he had enough control to keep them steady and in place. If she broke cover, she’d die.

            He wasn’t going to watch her die.

Chapter Text

            Kifu felt an overwhelming anger take over. The anger wasn’t new. It always seemed to fester underneath the surface, destroying any chance she ever had at tranquility. Kumji’s legacy. But that had been her choice, many years ago.

            It wasn’t that Kifu couldn’t handle it. Of course, she felt like she reacted more explosively than most of her fellow Tribesmembers. She had enough decorum to keep from sounding like Kumji, so she hoped. Unlike him, she tried to heal – it was just always out of her grasp.

            Times like this, however, where she was faced with scenes that so vividly reminded her of her late mentor, she lost her restraint. Any chance she had at reigning herself tight and sticking to a plan unraveled. People were hurting, dying, and losing their chances at a peaceful life that Kifu would never understand – and Kifu possessed the means to stop it all. The reaction was knee-jerk and beyond her control.

            Thought abandoned her, and years of bodily lessons flooded her muscles. Kumji had taught her more than anger; he taught her how to harness it into a deadly weapon. She pounced forward, her fingers skillfully releasing the tie around her knife, and she intended to kill them all.

            Before she could make it more than a step, arms wrapped deftly around her chest, pulling her back into their body, pinning her upper arms to her side. It jarred her, just enough to break the cloud of fury. Confusion wriggled its way in. How had Taya made it to Kifu so fast? Taya was not quick.

            Holding Kifu back wouldn’t help. It wouldn’t help her. It wouldn’t help those before her suffering. Kifu snarled, wrenching her body aside to release Taya’s grip, but the prison of the arms held fast. Except – the body behind Kifu didn’t feel right. Didn’t feel like Taya. Too small. Kakashi?

            “I won’t allow my comrade to die,” he breathed fiercely into her ear.

            His words snapped the sharp hold the anger held over Kifu. She still wanted to move, to fight, but her mind struggled to regain control over her motions. “Me?” Kifu spat.

            “If you throw yourself into that, alone, you won’t make it out alive,” Kakashi reasoned with that same emotional tone. His voice sounded so different than it ever had before. Passion behinds his words really made a difference in how he spoke.

            Kifu squirmed again, trying to break his hold on her, but he held tight. Judging from his grip, it wasn’t a struggle for him.

            A whisper from another trauma, compliments of Leno this time, threatened to break Kifu’s refound connection with her brain. “Let go,” she growled hostilely.

            “Is this how you behave as a squad captain?” Kakashi demanded of Kifu. “You have a team. You’re not going to sacrifice yourself – ” He cut himself off, though his intonation suggested that he’d originally had more to say.

            Kifu snarled, jerking to pull away from him. Kakashi held fast, his grip unwavering. Kifu struck out at his shin with the heel of her foot, but even that didn’t seem to register for him. “Let me go,” she repeated venomously. No matter which way she twisted, she couldn’t break free.

            Kakashi remained silent and stony. His hold was inhuman.

            Kifu didn’t know how to break free. She became increasingly more convinced that no matter what she did, even if the trick worked on a normal opponent, Kakashi would keep a hold of her writhing body. She stilled despite her mounting panic, her breath coming out in sharp pants. She’d learned that she could never relinquish control over herself.

            “This isn’t your mission.”

            “My mission is what I say it is,” Kifu snapped. She leaned forward against his arms, but gained no more freedom.

            “This isn’t what we left your village to do,” Kakashi reiterated with no little calmness. It was almost contagious.

            “They’re dying!” she barked. She thrust a hand forward as best she could, despite his arms holding her elbows to her torso, to punctuate her words. “You’re okay with that?” Her voice bordered on hysterics, shrill beyond her control.

            She felt his chest heave in a lengthy sigh.

            “Well?” Kifu demanded sharply. She kicked again to no avail.

            “They’re already dead,” Kakashi said. His emotion left his voice, leaving behind a detached coldness Kifu hadn’t expected from him. She knew that he was an assassin, but this was ridiculous.

            “They’re not! They’re screaming! They’re running!” She threw herself forward again, her toes biting into the soil for traction. Her eyes swam with the strength of her emotion. “They’re still alive!” She roared incoherently as she struggled against Kakashi, somehow still minutely in control over her volume. “Kakashi!”

            “What do you think you’re going to do?” Kakashi queried. Kifu balked at the levelness of his tone. No one reasoned with her with such composure. “You can’t kill them before they kill everyone else. True, they’re not dead yet, but they will be before it’s all over. Think about it, Kifu.”

            Kifu let her body fall slack, forcing Kakashi to hold up most of her weight. He didn’t seem to mind. “We can try,” she argued weakly. She still felt angry, but defeat fell on her heavily. She hadn’t thought about it. She could have evened the odds. She could have killed the ones massacring the innocents and given them a chance to fight for themselves or run away. Why didn’t Kakashi see that?

            “You will die,” Kakashi said matter-of-fact. “You don’t have the tools to fight that many people in this world.”

            What an odd way to say that. Kifu didn’t know what Kakashi meant. “You’re condemning them.”

            “That’s war. I’m saving you and your people. Your Tribe needs you.”

            Kifu wrinkled her nose and hissed through her teeth. They didn’t need her. She was a convenience to some, a bother to many, but none of them inherently needed her. They’d move on without her. Even Idai. Especially Idai. She wouldn’t have to worry about growing up in Kifu’s shadow any longer. She could create her own identity.

            Kifu regained her footing, taking her weight back from Kakashi. His arms relaxed almost imperceptibly from around her middle, but Kifu knew that she wouldn’t break free if he didn’t will it.

            “‘We determine their size, their mission, and their dispatch point,’” Kakashi quoted. “My advice? Failing to assassinate their raze group is not an advisable intermission.”

            “Let go,” Kifu repeated with resignation. She lightly shook her shoulders, and they came free from his grasp. She didn’t make to run. She wouldn’t deceive him to get her way. She’d given up their lives in favor of her own. But Kakashi was right; she wouldn’t have been able to save them before the slaughterers had killed them all. She knew they’d execute their hostages to keep her from saving them before they’d allow anyone out of their kill zone. Kifu realistically wouldn’t escape with her life, no matter how well Kumji trained her.

            “They have a lot of people to expend for annihilation,” Kakashi commented. He observed as people fell to the massacre, unblinking. Kifu couldn’t watch. It turned her stomach more than she could physically handle. The screams and pleas were difficult enough.

            “To what goal? Why kill everyone?” Kifu asked Kakashi weakly. She turned her eyes to the ground, swallowing hard to control herself.

            “Not everyone.” Right. They did have hostages. Kifu saw them when she’d been riled up enough to watch their blood flow.

            “Why, though?”

            “Kill the men. The threats,” Kakashi inferred. “Kill the elderly.”

            Kifu swallowed again, unable to keep up with the amount of saliva her mouth produced. “Keep those they can assimilate into their army,” she added thickly. Her knees gave as she physically covered her mouth with stiff fingers.

            “Yeah.”

            “Keep those they can … make their slaves,” Kifu whispered through her hands.

            “Yeah.”

            “Shewnosh,” Kifu cursed. Her fingers curled enough to press her knuckles against her lips as she squeezed her eyes close.

            “That’s their goal.”

            “Why?”

            “Could be to expand their army.” Kakashi’s foot shifted slightly beside Kifu. She heard its slight rustle despite the desperate din just beyond. “Could be to expand their territory.”

            “Aggressive expansion regardless,” Kifu murmured so lowly, she hardly heard her own words. She swallowed a couple more times, trying to get her throat under control. The threat of vomit didn’t leave. “I need to get out of here. We need to find Taya and figure out who’s in charge.”

            Kakashi tapped her lightly on her shoulder before grabbing her by the upper arm and hauling her to her feet. Kifu staggered, biting her teeth together hard. “No one here,” Kakashi said. “They might have a field commander, but no one here is the kind to organize men like this together.”

            “Taya already knew that,” Kifu said. She opened her eyes, swept her gaze over him, and then lightly pushed her way through the brush.

            “Taya’s this way,” Kakashi said. He gently grasped her by the arm to correct her path. Kifu delayed her step to allow him to lead.

            They came across Bin first, laying calmly in the undergrowth. Taya stood a few paces away, her back pressed up against a tree and her arms crossed over her chest. “There’s too many of them,” she commented lowly.

            “I know,” Kifu said.

            “We should circle them and follow their path back to their operations,” Kakashi suggested.

            Kifu pursed her lips before nodding curtly. Taya pushed herself away from the tree trunk and began leading the way again, giving the dying village a wide berth. Kifu squeezed her hands into tight fists to keep them from shaking as she allowed herself and her companions to give up. She couldn’t help but feel responsible for every subsequent death following their departure. The only consolation to them pressing forward was the possibility of them cutting off the tyrants at the head, before they could continue laying waste to more peoples.

            The greenery quickly ate up the sounds of the dying, though birds remained suspiciously quiet in the wake of the violence. Taya had no problems following the murderers’ path from their origin. They had too many men to hide signs of their passing. Heavy feet laden with leather shoes stomped most of the vegetation at ground level further into the soil. Passing legs snapped lightweight plants, obliterating them into sad shadows of their former selves. Kifu could distinguish footprints pressed into the earth from one another, but she couldn’t follow one particular trail. There were too many of them. The raze group was comprised of more men than one single Tribe had members.

            As they walked, Kifu allowed her brain to switch off. Her thoughts often felt like wandering, working into a furious frenzy until Kumji’s gifted wrath ate through her heart. But Kifu nipped those thought tendrils quickly. She couldn’t worry about what-ifs, nor about the morals of the situation. She couldn’t beat herself up anymore. She needed to stay deadly. Ready. In control.

            Instead, Kifu watched Bin trotting along with them. Bin would alert them to oncoming visitors, before they were spotted and felled. Bin knew when things were about to go sideways, and would warn them one way or another with body language. Taya knew how to read Bin much better than Kifu ever would, but Kifu knew enough to use him as a tool.

            Far too quickly, but after half a day of walking, they came across more people. It was obviously a mobile camp, but the materials of the shelters were unlike anything Kifu had ever seen. The roofs and sides looked to be made out of canvas or leather, propped up on spindly frames that swayed when touched. There were many of them – so many, Kifu couldn’t fathom the entire scope of their problem.

            Taya balked, physically taking a step back and throwing a wayward prayer out to her god. Her hand passed over her forehead, heart, and stomach, before pausing stiffly at her lips. Kifu pulled up beside her before turning her back completely to the camp. She needed to put physical space between her and this problem. She thought she was in over her head earlier. Now, Kifu didn’t know what to do at all.

            “Conquerors,” Kakashi murmured. His eye scanned the entire camp, drinking in the detail and spinning the information through his brain. Kifu appreciated him for it. Better someone else than her. “This is an army.”

            “We can’t stop this,” Kifu muttered through a thick tongue.

            “We came here to see if we had to,” Taya reminded Kifu.

            “Do you think a mountain will stop them from coming to take our land?”

            “No,” Kakashi supplied for Taya.

            Kifu slipped into a crouch, resting one knee on the ground for balance as her vision swam. She pressed both thumbs against the bridge of her nose, rubbing along her sinuses. “This is hopeless. This is beyond anything we can do.”

            “What do you want to do?” Kakashi asked.

            “Pretend they don’t exist,” Kifu said quickly.

            Kakashi hummed with disappointment. “With a base camp this large, I wouldn’t be surprised if the group we came across isn’t their only one attacking the locals.” He paused, probably scrutinizing the camp further. “They haven’t been here very long. A couple months at most. They’re probably expanding at an incredible rate.”

            “What’s a month?” Kifu asked lowly.

            Kakashi physically jerked in surprise. “What do you use to measure time?” he asked in return.

            “Suns. Moons. Stars.”

            “Oh. Well, it’s about a lunar cycle, then.”

            Kifu blinked. “You think they did all that in a couple short moons?” she asked incredulously.

            “The grass hasn’t died yet.”

            Kifu looked over her fists, couldn’t see through the brush they were hiding in, and ended up taking Kakashi’s word for it. “Okay, but what can we even do?” Kifu asked. “I – I don’t know.”

            “We can wait to see if they get closer,” Taya suggested. “With a camp this big, it’ll be easy to tell from smoke and fire if they’re moving towards the mountains.”

            “I could have someone watch from on top of the mountain,” Kifu mused. “And what if they do get close? What if we’re under threat? That’s only a delay.”

            “You’ll be closer to home and your supply chain,” Kakashi said. “It’ll be a lot easier for your Tribe or Tribes to maneuver and stay healthy than it will this bunch of people. They aren’t self-sufficient like this. They need people to bring them food and tools from somewhere else.”

            Kifu nodded slowly. “Okay. That’s a – hmm. But if they’re taking down villages on their way over, won’t that re-supply them?”

            “Not to the scale they need.”

            “If they get close, we can pull together groups to take out that supply chain,” Taya said. “It wouldn’t be very difficult for people like me, who are used to living away from the Tribe.”

            “I wouldn’t want Amina on a mission like that,” Kifu said.

            “No. Me neither.”

            “That would be a good task for Remy,” Kakashi suggested.

            “Maybe,” Kifu said. “Those aren’t exactly details we need to focus on yet. Is waiting our best – our only – option?”

            “It’s your best option,” Kakashi affirmed.

            “And the only option I can see,” Taya conceded. “The three of us aren’t doing anything to an army this large. Even if we take out little pieces at a time, we won’t get anywhere before we’re found. We need to return to the Tribe with this information or risk all their deaths.”

            “I’m worried about the raze group,” Kifu said. She pressed her knuckles to her lips, holding up her head.

            “You don’t think we can handle one of those with more, um, fighters?” Kakashi asked her.

            “I’m not keen on losing Tribesmembers,” Kifu said with a sneer. “You, me, and Telk might be able to avoid dying, but Remy’s made it clear that while he has the skill, he won’t kill. And … most Tribesmembers aren’t trained to kill.”

            “I’ll fight with you,” Taya said.

            Kifu closed her eyes and nodded gratefully to her friend. Taya was one of those she was afraid of losing. “There’s a very real reason only Telk can match my skill in a fight. Our Tribesmembers are not taught how to engage in a fight to the death. They’re not taught how to fight against multiple adversaries. Kumji and his people taught me, but he taught me specifically to become his weapon. He wanted me to annihilate my Tribe for him.”

            Taya’s earlier resolved gaze fell, avoiding Kifu’s direction. Taya knew vaguely of Kifu’s history, but no one had told her anything specific. Least of all Kifu. Until today, she hadn’t known what exactly had happened to Kumji. He’d simply disappeared from everyone’s lives. Only Neto, Büks, and Kifu were in the know over his disappearance.

            Jiogi had been the mentor for both Kumji and Taya. Jiogi had been adequate at hand-to-hand in his prime, and had taught Taya how to hold her own in the wild world, but Kumji had taken things a step further. He’d found people outside of the Tribe to teach him things Jiogi wouldn’t, or couldn’t. Kumji took Kifu to those people to craft her into Kumji’s perfect weapon. Kumji was proficient before Kifu killed him, but Kifu dedicated her best years of learning to the art of war. And Telk had been her sparring partner all along, growing and learning with her. Through her.

             “Kifu ...” Taya pressed her lips together but said no more.

             “Most people in the Tribes don’t know the things I’ve done. Half the Tribe doesn’t trust me because my life is secret. I don’t need them seeing why it’s secret.”

            “You’re going to have to set aside personal inhibitions,” Kakashi warned her. 

            “No, it’s fine. I could step down from my position if they want me to.” She paused. “Neto won’t let me,” Kifu added in a mutter. “What I mean is that I won’t risk anyone else. I don’t have blind dedication backing me up to ask this of my people – and I don’t have the skill to keep everyone alive. And if there’s ever an after this … I can’t let them throw me out. I can’t leave this life like I left my life before.” She drew in a shaky breath. “They will exile me if they all know.” Except the Tribes didn’t exile. By their own rules, they put the threat down. That had been Kifu’s job for over fifteen years, eliminating Kumji and later Renza, but it had always been done in the dark.

            “That’s Neto’s decision,” Taya reminded Kifu gently. Her eyes still wouldn’t meet Kifu’s.

            “The entire Tribe would turn upside-down. Anyone affiliated with me might go down with me. Anyone that knew everything. Especially Neto.” Telk. Eljah. Büks. Jiogi. And Idai would get caught up in the crossfire.

            Kifu cleared her throat and forcefully stood to her feet. “That’s also beside the point. If the raze group gets sent after us, we have a force of four to go up against them. The other Tribes may have warriors to send with us, but I’m very serious that no one will handle themselves well. I’m leery about sending you, Taya.”

            “You may be my superior now, but I remember a time when I was in charge of you. When I was in charge of your life and safety.”

            “That doesn’t change anything,” Kifu said deadpan.

            “You shouldn’t sugarcoat the reality of the situation,” Kakashi said, “but I’m not sure you can afford to hold people back because you don’t want to lose them. I’ve watched friends fall in battle before. It’s not easy. Difficult after the fact. But it’s for the good of the village. In your case, the Tribe.”

            “These people won’t know that they’re out of their depth,” Kifu hissed. “I know my people, and I watched those men massacre. My people won’t stand a chance.” She struck the bottom of her fist into the palm of her other hand. “If we do nothing now, I’m telling you, we have four of us to rely on to take out the thirty or forty men of a group explicitly designed to kill us. Kill them before they kill us.” She thrust out an arm in the direction of the mountains. “We aren’t meant to be killers in the Tribe. I do the Tribe’s dirty work, but it’s just me. We’re not a bunch of assassins in an assassin corp.”

            “How many raze groups do you think this army has?” Taya asked. The question was directed to Kakashi.

            “I couldn’t tell you.”

            “Why?” Kifu asked her.

            “If we take out that group tonight – ambush – that’s thirty to forty less men we’d have to worry about in the future. They’ll be tired and caught off-guard.”

            Kifu would be lying if she said she expected such a suggestion from Taya.

            Kakashi looked between Taya and Kifu, assessing their frames of mind. “We’d be more likely to deliver this information to your leader, and it would potentially set this army back a little. I doubt those are their best men, but they’ll be the most violent.”

            Taya finally looked back in Kifu’s direction, holding firm eye contact. “We should deal the first blow.”

            “And what of their reaction?” Kifu queried.

            “Doesn’t matter. They won’t know where we came from. We’ll be long gone before they know to retaliate.”

            “And then we watch from Tribes land for their approach,” Kakashi finished thoughtfully.

            “You’re both in agreement?” Kifu couldn’t help the sadistic smile tugging at her mouth. She liked the idea of those murderers dying. They deserved it.

            “Your original mission is accomplished,” Kakashi said. “We determined their size, their mission, and their dispatch point.”

            “You wouldn’t let me break cover because you said I’d die,” Kifu said suspiciously.

            “You wanted to rush in without a plan. Yes, I’ve watched comrades die, and that’s why I won’t let it happen again. That wasn’t for the good of the Tribe.”

            “I don’t understand your line.”

            “The line is that I won’t allow my comrades to die, but each of my fallen comrades have been shinobi of skill, too.”

            “What? And if they die anyway, it’s for the good of the village?” Kifu asked snidely.

            “We chose our paths. We accept the inevitable fate attached to the shinobi lifestyle.”

            “That’s why we do this now,” Taya said. “We’re not shinobi, whatever that is, but we’re the closest thing the Tribes have to whatever Kakashi’s describing. Our people chose to leave difficult lives for the promise of peace far removed from trading society. You and me, Kifu, we chose different paths.”

            Kifu snorted. She didn’t chose to become Kumji’s weapon, but she could see how her choices put her into such a predicament. She had something to prove and Kumji harnessed her childish anger. “Great. Let’s kill some bad people.”

            She cast one last, lingering look at the terrifying spread of tents that belonged to the giant army before falling into step behind Bin. Taya led them back in the direction of the massacred village, this time with the full intention of avenging those innocents’ deaths. As well as adding a small sense of security for their Tribe’s future.

            While Kifu still felt unsettled, she picked food for Kakashi as they travelled. She was used to foraging as she moved. She’d made it habit throughout her younger years, after learning what to look for. Even though she didn’t feel like eating, she knew that didn’t mean that those around her didn’t. She often forgot about that. Eventually, however, Kakashi began discreetly tucking the food away rather than politely eating what was given to him. Kifu quit trying.

            The tension in Kifu’s gut increased as they neared the site of the massacre. The forest darkened as the sun slid away, but that didn’t stop them. Tired was the last thing Kifu felt.

            “We’re here,” Taya whispered. Kifu didn’t understand how Taya knew where she was at all times. She didn’t know how Taya knew they were in the same area as this morning. It was quiet, except for the calls of the last few birds, crickets, and the trill of toads. Kifu didn’t hear voices or movement. She didn’t smell smoke or blood. Everything looked the same as everywhere else in the forest.

            Shifting into a stealthy gait, Kifu slipped past her group to investigate the area before them. She didn’t have far to go until she was on the opposite end of the village. Taya’s abilities were uncanny. Kifu took quick evaluation of the situation, and returned. “They’re gone.”

            “We didn’t pass them on the way back. I would think they’d return to their base camp,” Kakashi mused.

            “Are you any good at tracking?” Kifu asked him.

            “Probably not,” Kakashi said.

            “Back me up if I need it, then,” she ordered. She retraced her steps, moving as furtively as before. Kakashi hadn’t acknowledged her, and she didn’t hear him behind her, but it didn’t bother her. Even if he decided to not follow her direction, Kifu didn’t particularly need someone to watch her back. It was just safer.

            Kifu paused at the edge of the foliage, crouched low to the ground, as she assessed the open and bloody expanse before her. The army’s raze group left the bodies of their victims discarded untouched after death. Expressions of fear, pain, and surprise painted the faces of all the dead Kifu could see. No one was left alive. No one chest rose and fell with breath. No eyes squeezed shut in agony with no hope of being saved. Black lifeblood coated their bodies, their clothes, the ground, and the sides of many of their buildings. Each drop, every spray and arch, told another story of another violent and unforgiveable act.

            Kifu could hear her heart beat in her ears. She could feel her own blood pulse in her throat.

            Keeping low, Kifu slithered into the clearing, exposing herself to anyone that may have stayed behind. She kept a hand on her knife situated on her hip, untied in case she needed it quickly.

            She carefully stepped around the puddles shining with the last vestiges of sunlight from the sky, but the bottoms of her feet were thoroughly coated in sticky blood before she made it very far. Even after running into Kumji’s group of slavers, she’d never seen anything like this.

            The air not only had a sour scent to it, but Kifu could taste the metallic blood on her tongue. These were not new sensations to Kifu, having hunted large game for most of her life, but she’d never tasted the thick scent of blood on the air even working on a carcass.

            Her feet danced over bodies and through buildings, treading silently no matter what she ended up stepping on. She needed to figure out where the slaughterers went before she lost the finer points of her vision to the dark. She didn’t need to be a master tracker to figure out where thirty men trod off to, but losing the majority of her sight exponentially as the sun set increased the difficulty level.

            Kifu scanned the periphery of the village for signs of broken branches and crushed foliage. Her eyes caught on to places where the villagers frequented, their paths worn from daily use. Plants didn’t enjoy growing where they were repeatedly trampled. She saw places where people had broken free from the massacre, reaching the relative safety of the woods, but they had been cut down regardless. Kifu saw the snap of their fervent breakaway, bookended by a thick spray of gore across leaves and bark. Sometimes she saw pieces of their bodies, but not always. The wilderness claimed their bodies back: food for the forest. Kifu did not see an exit point for an army.

            “They didn’t leave.”

            Kifu whipped around to face the source of the hushed voice, one hand flung up before her defensively. People didn’t sneak up on her, but Kakashi had managed to do just that.

            “You didn’t check the buildings?”

            Coldness dumped through Kifu’s veins, fear shooting strongly down her spine. “That doesn’t make any sense,” she hissed. The village was completely silent, save for the typical sounds of the forest as day segued to night. Frogs began singing in place of the birds, completely out of place considering the visage of the village all around Kifu and Kakashi. They took hostages. They took hostages, right? Hostages wouldn’t be mute. An army wouldn’t be noiseless.

            “They could be more skilled than anticipated.”

            “Doesn’t matter,” Kifu sneered. She saw Kakashi tense up infinitesimally as she shifted back into her rage, but she wasn’t yet seeing through a curtain of red. “We need to find them all before we go in and slit their throats. It’s better than they deserve.”

            “Well, you probably should have a plan for if you can’t, uh, slit their throats before they know what you’re doing,” Kakashi advised.

            “Oh, thanks. Wouldn’t have thought of that,” Kifu said snidely.

            Kifu did not like the idea of fighting in close quarters. She’d never done so before. Her entire life since joining the Tribes and learning under Kumji, Kifu had fought with ample space. She’d learned to watch her flanks and remain hypervigilant of all around her. She preferred fighting with the staff for that reason. It was easier to keep herself protected when she kept enemies at an arm’s length.

            For that reason, Kifu wondered if she could find a happy medium between getting caught in the middle of her dirty work indoors or luring them outside where she was most confident in her skillset, but where their numbers would immediately overwhelm them. The odds did not favor her.

            “Do you want our help?” Kakashi asked her flatly.

            Kifu pushed out a quick breath in a huff. Her eyes flashed to the nearest building. The few whisks of blood across the siding nearly blended in with the wood grain. “Can you see inside the buildings well?”

            “Not clearly.”

            Kifu spun on the ball of her foot and cursed under her breath. This was quickly becoming a bad idea. She wasn’t about to drop it.

            Gesturing sharply to Kakashi, she led them swiftly out from the middle of the village, back to where Taya and Bin waited for them. Taya watched her expectantly, though she didn’t say a word.

            “They’re taking shelter in the village buildings,” Kifu told her, returning to her normal volume. Taya didn’t bother hiding the shock that crossed her face. “I want to take them out tonight. We need an accurate count of their numbers, in the number of buildings they occupy.” Kifu didn’t want to give them the luxury of dying in their sleep, but she was sure that she’d get her way near the end. She didn’t typically enjoy letting people suffer; she’d seen enough of it from Kumji’s group. But these people? They deserved it. And Kifu knew how to make someone feel pain while simultaneously taking them out of the game.

            “From what I saw, they’re already asleep for the night,” Kakashi added. “That doesn’t mean they’ll stay that way. We shouldn’t assume they’ll be unarmed because they’re caught off-guard.”

            “I can’t be very quiet,” Taya warned Kifu. Her fingers brushed over the head of her axe.

            Kifu turned to look pointedly at Kakashi.

            His eye widened before returning to its relaxed state. “I can, sure.”        

            “If this gets away from us, I can’t defend myself without moving freely,” Kifu said. “It’s going to get away from us. There are too many of them. People don’t die quietly.”

            “Ah, I see.” He hummed contemplatively to himself, turning to stare off in the direction of the village.

            “If there are too many to a building, the others will wake and corner me,” Kifu considered out loud. “Truly, any way you kill someone in their sleep, they’re going to make a noise.” She watched Kakashi as he processed silently. “Vocal reflex, muscle reflex, it doesn’t matter. Bodies have automatic reflexes, regardless of its attachment to its head.”

            “We can make it work if we get all three of us in a building and there aren’t more than, eh, six men,” Taya said.

            Kifu shook her head. “It’s not going to work. We’re not all going to go through each building like that.”

            Taya frowned and fidgeted. Kifu admired her; she was incredibly tough in the face of so many problems. She’d never seen her so uncomfortable. Outright murder wasn’t something Taya was used to. Kifu wanted these men dead in cold blood. Revenge as well as prospective future protection. These men wantonly killed once, they’d do it again. It didn’t matter if they did it because they liked it or if it had been strictly by order. They were agents of chaos and death. They went against the natural order of things.

            “It’s in our best interest to figure out how many buildings they occupy,” Kakashi said.

            “Yeah,” Kifu agreed impatiently.

            “If you’re looking for advice, I need to adjust strategy off that fact alone.”

            “Go,” Kifu commanded.

            Kakashi took off in a wink, disappearing in a whisper of greenery.

            “You’re trusting his word that much, huh?” Taya asked Kifu lowly.

            Kifu didn’t hide the flash of discomfort. “He stopped me earlier. I almost tried to end their murder spree. He’s a good balance to what Kumji taught me.”

            “Have you seen enough from him to place all your trust in him?”

            Kifu licked her lips. Now she avoided looking at Taya. “Yeah. I think I’ve placed my life in his hands more than I realize already.” It wasn’t just Kakashi saving her from throwing her life away in the haze of rage. Kifu saw how easily he could have taken out not only Eljah, but also foresaw him single-handedly playing with Telk and Kifu if he really wanted to. Kifu had observed enough of the way he held himself back and hid it all under layers of masks. He didn’t need his physical face mask to hide behind. He had everything else less tangible covered, too. He freely admitted he was an assassin, and Kifu firmly believed that if he wanted her dead, she’d have been eliminated already. Kakashi knew what he was doing, proved that his words weren’t all smoke, and he was more dangerous than them all.

            Taya’s expression softened. She had a good idea of how little Kifu trusted. “Where did he come from?”

            “The gods, I think,” Kifu whispered. Nothing else explained how he showed up. How his world was so different from theirs.

            “I think I need a better answer than that,” Taya almost laughed.

            “Truly. He showed up in the middle of our Tribe land. He doesn’t know why. Baku and Roicho found him. They don’t know why. But I … I can let my guard around him, and that doesn’t make any sense, Taya.” Kifu felt like she was pleading by the time she made it through her last sentence. Kifu didn’t trust people. She trusted Telk and Eljah, because she’d been friends with them since before everyone else had hurt her. They’d helped her through the fallout of failed relationships, platonic and romantic. She trusted Taya because Taya was the reason she’d joined the Tribe as a child. She’d been the first person in Kifu’s life to extend a hand. She trusted Büks because she’d brought more awkward problems to him than she’d ever contemplate bringing to anyone else. But that was the extent of her trust. Everyone else had failed her one way or another, hurting her when she was supposed to be helped. She didn’t even trust Neto completely.

            “Oh.”

            Kifu scoffed. “I appreciate your insight.”

            “No, sorry. I swear you’re a different person every time I come back to the Tribe. I don’t know if I can help you in this.”

            “Life keeps trying to kill me, everywhere I turn,” Kifu muttered. “I didn’t have any expectations for life when I ran into you and Jiogi, but this isn’t what I anticipated. I’m not sure I like who I turned out to be.” Her hands were stained from a lifetime of bad decisions and she couldn’t find a way back to the innocence she’d had when she ran away from her family. She wanted to be a hunter, not a housewife, but what Kumji crafted her into was not what she’d envisioned. And Kumji was just the beginning.

            With every horrible turn in her life, Kifu had to cut off her hopes. She had to steel herself against the new levels of darkness she wouldn’t have fathomed existing before they’d happened to her. She had to survive becoming a weapon, and stop the destructive hand that held her. Just when she thought she was getting over the atrocities of that situation, Leno singlehandedly destroyed what remained of her shattered trust in others. Things only got worse after Telk and Eljah pulled Kifu out of the darkness of that relationship. Kifu couldn’t raise Idai after barely bringing her to term, and she handed her care off to Mai. She couldn’t help Renza despite giving her all into mentoring him, and she couldn’t convert him to a sound frame of mind. She failed over and over, and still Neto pushed her harder. Demanded more and more out of her. So Kifu stuck around under the weight of his expectations, essentially running the Tribe with little guidance from him as he worked to hide his failing health from everyone else. It’d been like that for more seasons than Kifu could count.

            “It’s not too late to start over,” Taya said softly. Kifu blinked and looked Taya back in the eyes. It wasn’t pity. It wasn’t disgust. She didn’t expect whatever emotion this was from Taya. “That’s what the Tribes are about.”

            “I can’t forget what I’ve done. I can’t forgive myself for most of it.” Kifu ground her teeth together and dipped her chin away.

            “Something to think about.”

            “But how? How can I change who I am after all this, Taya?” Kifu asked so quietly, the words almost didn’t make it through the lump in her throat.

            “You have to consciously be better.”

            Kifu bared her teeth, her expression short of disgust. “You realize that while Kumji’s dead and I’m not longer his weapon, Neto’s been using me just as much? After Holmu died, I’m the only one Neto turns to. He’s worse off than people think. So paranoid. He gave Holmu Kumji’s position in the Tribes on top of his own – and that all fell to me.”

            Holmu was the only buffer between Neto’s demands and Kifu after Kifu slayed her mentor in self-defense. Holmu was kind and perpetually patient, and Kifu sorely missed his optimism. Before Kumji’s betrayal, Kumji had been the Head Hunter. Holmu had been the Head Warrior. The Tribe didn’t need someone to lead an army, but just in case, Holmu made sure that people could hold their own in a fight under pressure.

            Holmu had also been about the only reason Kifu could carry on with Kumji’s pressing demands of Kifu’s energies. He’d offered her words of encouragement when Kifu was ready to give up. Kifu never knew how much Holmu knew about her and Kumji’s extracurricular activities, but he never held any contempt toward her, even when she was her most broken. She still mourned him.

            “So? Be better.”

            “How?” Kifu snarled. Impatience scrabbled around her chest.

            “It starts with how you talk to yourself. How you let others treat you. That includes Neto, dear.” Taya reached out and set a hand softly on Kifu’s shoulder. Kifu had to work to keep from pulling herself sharply away. “You’re not the Tribe’s hidden weapon. You’re a person. I remember the child that ran away, Kifu. Be her.”

            Kifu dropped her eyes, scrutinizing the ground between her toes. “I don’t know if I can do that, Taya. She’s gone.”

            Taya took her hand back, setting both hands on her hips and looking off in the direction Kakashi disappeared off to. “Like I said, something to think about.” Her attention flicked back to Kifu. “You have friends, right?”

            Kifu swallowed. “Yeah.”

            “They’d probably be alright with helping you sort through all this. And if not, I’m your friend, too, Kifu. And I don’t have any more excursions planned.”

            Blinking furiously, biting down on her lip, Kifu forced her head back up. “I don’t think I want anyone else to know what happened with Kumji. I wouldn’t make it if those two left me, too.”

            “Fair. You still have me, and I know now.”

            Kifu forced a smile to her face. She didn’t feel any better, and the expression probably came across as more of a grimace. “You’re not allowed to leave me now.” She jerked her head in the direction of the village. “We’re going fell some murderers.”

            Taya puffed out a small laugh, but Kifu could tell that it was more forced. This had been Taya’s idea, but she was not comfortable with taking the lives of other people. Kifu believed it was this group’s abhorrent deeds that superseded Taya’s characteristic moral inhibitions. Taya was fair. She loved to give people – or in Bin’s case, animals – another chance. “Right by your side, boss.”

            “Just waiting on Kakashi.” Kifu felt out of her element. She was reactive. She did not plan. It worked when she was taking care of herself, but it didn't work when she was trying to lead a team. While Kakashi had told her that he led an elite group of assassins, and he’d offer her his advice when she needed it, she greatly appreciated him for entirely taking the lead on this situation.

            When the Tribes had been at war with the slavers, Kifu wasn’t in command. It all fell to Holmu. He was a spectacular commander. He could balance people and their strengths and weaknesses. Kifu tried to emulate his methods in the way that she ran the Tribe, but she felt completely out of her depth. She felt as if she were flailing. That things were falling apart all around her, all within the span of two suns.

            Kifu looked skyward, where the stars began popping up like dandelions in the great growth season. The brightest of them all, the star that marked the peak of the hot season and the beginning of a new year, was nearly at its zenith. It wasn’t situated over the top of a mountain like it would have been if Kifu had been home, but she knew exactly where to find it in the sky regardless.

            Kakashi returned, the hushed breath of plants announcing his arrival. Both Kifu and Taya looked at him expectantly.

            “Thirty-four men in thirteen homes.”

            A dirty expression briefly crossed Taya’s face. They weren’t homes any longer. Their caretakers had been slain.

            “And they’re all accounted for?” Kifu asked. She didn’t expect Kakashi would have left stones unturned, with what little she did know of him, but she’d learned that asking obvious questions prevented terrible disasters.

            “Yes.”

            “Course of action?” Taya asked. She looked at Kifu.

            She lightly shook her head before flicking her chin at Kakashi. She wasn’t going to be the one to make a bad decision. Of course, if Kakashi led them astray, that would have been the result of Kifu’s poor choice. She really trusted that Kakashi had more experience in these matters.

            “That’s two or four men in each building, not three,” Kakashi added.

            “Four is pushing my limits in keeping safe,” Kifu admitted. Even in an open space, four opponents was ridiculous.

            “If you want to split completely up, I can focus on those buildings.” He shoved his hands into his pockets and turned so that he could look back in the direction of the dark village. “We have other options. I could accompany one of you in each building, with one person looking out on the outside. We would be better off starting with the buildings with more men, even though there are fewer of them.” His face turned back to Kifu. “That’s a safer option.”

            “I’ll keep watch,” Taya said quickly. She grimaced, as if she expected a smart remark from Kifu about cowardice. None came.

            Kakashi tilted his chin down. “You and Bin stay hidden, but centered. Alert us with an inconspicuous noise if anything changes out there.”

            “Bin’s a wolf,” Kifu said flatly. “We don’t control him.”

            “Oh.” Kakashi sounded genuinely surprised, like it hadn’t occurred to him. Kifu couldn’t help throwing him a disgruntled look. What kind of world did Kakashi come from where he’d treat a wolf like a human solider?

            “He’ll stay by me if I ask him,” Taya said. “He might prove useful.” Then again, Taya had a lot more control over her canine companion than Kifu thought possible. She’d never understand Taya’s connection to Bin.

            “Kifu, you’re with me. Go for the quickest kill you can. Let me know if you need help.”

            Kifu scoffed. “Help?”

            Kakashi acted as if he didn’t notice his brush against her pride. “If we can’t make it through every building before they’re all awake, we’ll take the fight to Taya and cover her. Keep your backs safe, watch each other’s sides.” He looked back toward the village. “These people don’t have skill, but they’re bold. That makes them just as dangerous.”

            Kifu wasn’t sure if she should appreciate him for coming up with a cohesive plan that sounded as if it had potential, or if she should be offended for him treating them like Tribeslings in the process. Some of the points he brought up felt so trivial, they didn’t need mentioning. Taya, on the other hand, didn’t seem to mind.

            “That inconspicuous noise. What kind of noise?”

            “We used bird calls in Konoha.”

            “It’s night,” Kifu pointed out. Birds slept with the sun.

            Kakashi hummed thoughtfully to himself. “A warning woof? Like Bin would do for you.”

            “Would that be loud enough to alert you?” Taya asked. Kifu didn’t know what noise they even meant. Bin communicating verbally to Taya didn’t make sense. Bin was a wolf.

            “I’ll hear it,” Kakashi confirmed.

            “That’s our plan, then?” Kifu asked. “Are we ready?” Kifu was. She itched to start. Her lung capacity felt smaller in anticipation. Her spine locked with tension. Pre-meditating the demise of another, let alone thirty-four others, was new to Kifu, and she wasn’t sure she really liked it. She killed Kumji out of self-defense. She killed Renza in the heat of the moment after warning him various times what his actions would amount to. And the slavers? She killed them without a second thought on the battle field. This was different. It would have been an acceptable act before Kakashi stopped her. But well after the fact? While the men slept? She almost felt as wicked as them. Kifu wasn’t a cold-blooded killer.

            She really couldn’t believe that this was Taya’s idea.

            Taya pulled her axe out of the harness holding it to her thigh. “I’m ready.”

            Kakashi didn’t join in to their affirmations. He simply stepped forward with the foot further away from the village, pivoting on the one still grounded, and began leading the way forward. Kifu immediately hopped in behind him, choosing her footing easily despite the lack of lighting. The moon hadn’t woken from its daily slumber yet, and wouldn’t for a long while. Kifu hoped to be done with the terrible task before it came over the tops of the trees. As a crescent, it wouldn’t have much illumination to offer anyway.

            The four of them broke from the edge of the woods within heartbeats of one another. While they were all stealthy beings, Kifu was relieved when she could no longer hear the susurration of their passing. The delicate sounds of disturbed foliage felt unnaturally loud to Kifu’s ears. It sent a sensation akin to ants crawling across her skin.

            Taya stepped around Kifu when she paused at the mouth of their path. She deposited her bow and quiver on the ground, away from where they could get trampled. She wouldn’t need a long-range weapon in the work they were about to do, and she didn’t want to see these items destroyed. Her bow had been through a lot in its lifetime.

            Kifu caught up with them as Kakashi wordlessly communicated with Taya. He pointed her silently to a strategic location. She nodded deeply once, twisted her hands to Bin like it was a language he understood, and led him away. Without wasting a beat, Kakashi guided Kifu to their first building.

            Anxiety mounted within Kifu, flooding her limbs with jittery feeling. She knew she’d be fine once she was doing something, but the lack of tactile work and extended time for her brain to go wild with alarms wasn’t helping her. She always worked better in the moment. If she gave herself too much time, nerves took over for the worse.

            She followed at Kakashi’s heel, barely keeping herself from crashing into him as he moved. He set a brisk pace until he reached the first doorway. Kifu sidled over to his side, her stance falling to something lower and more stable. Kakashi motioned with all fingers for her to take one side, and then he entered the blackness of the building. Kifu couldn’t follow him inside as swiftly, though her eyes did adjust rapidly enough. All she could make out were vague shapes, all inky gray.

            Kifu moved slowly, brushing her toes gently across the ground in case she missed something with her eyes. She could barely make out Kakashi. His dark clothing stood out slightly darker than his surroundings. She did not, however, see the four men they were stalking.

            Kakashi helped her. He pointed slowly to each man, waiting for Kifu to acknowledge him each time. He then gestured to two men again. Kifu took it as his soft order to handle those two men while he took out the other two.

            She didn’t know what she was doing. True, she knew how to kill a man. It wasn’t very different from an animal in the field. Slitting the throat was the best way to ensure that her prey was down. An animal could get up from a shot through the heart, even if the arrow didn’t pierce the heart directly, but it couldn’t get up from a cut across the throat.

            That had been Kifu’s method for humans, too. If she could get in close and past a person’s defenses, she’d go for the neck if she could. If not, she’d end it that way anyway. Cutting the artery, the trachea, had been a lesson drilled hard into her.

            Was that the best option when she was killing them in their sleep?

            Kifu swallowed hard, though found it difficult for the lump in her throat. She thought she’d get better in the moment, but she was intensely aware of her hesitation.

            These men were monsters. They deserved worse. Kifu and Kakashi were doing the world a favor in putting them out of their rabid misery. It’s what Kifu would do if a predator animal began wantonly killing. She’d do it without a second thought. Animals felt suffering when they struck out blindly. She didn’t understand how this could be so different to what she’d done before in her life.

            Her breaths became sharper. She couldn’t get enough oxygen. Her ears buzzed. The corners of her vision swam threateningly. She couldn’t act.

            A hand grabbed her upper arm. Kifu whipped her knife up swiftly, contorting her body away. All the symptoms of her anxiety flushed away instantaneously. Kakashi grabbed her fist around the hilt of the knife with his open hand. His expression gave away nothing.

            Without a word, he twisted her hand and plunged the blade of her knife directly through the heart of her victim. He held her hand fast for a moment, registering the shake of her limbs, before letting go. “I’m trusting you to keep control of yourself,” he murmured. His eye bore into hers, intense. “Can you do this?”

            Kifu turned her eyes down, staring at her fist around the knife’s hilt with the blade buried deep in the man’s chest. Kakashi’s hand that had been around her upper arm had transferred to the man’s throat, holding it firmly to the table and clamping down to keep him from crying out. A muted gurgle managed to make it through, and then he began flailing.

            Kifu pulled her knife quickly, bringing it close to her chest in a poor mimicry of a hug. The man heaved a couple more times before falling still.

            “Well?” Kakashi prompted fiercely. He looked away and shifted his energy, relaxing back to the Kakashi he’d been all along. “You’re not obligated.”

            No matter what this did to what remained of Kifu’s morals, she couldn’t ask Kakashi to eradicate the entire company alone. It had to have done something to him inside, just as it ate at her. He was still a human being with feelings, even if he kept them determinedly hidden away. This was for the good of the Tribe. For the good of the ecosystem. They were cleansing a festering rot.

            “No, I’ll be better,” Kifu said resolutely. Kakashi’s gaze returned. She could vaguely hear Kumji’s voice in the back of her head, berating her for her hesitation. She wasn’t a child anymore. Sometimes she had to do what was difficult.

            Kakashi stared at her a moment longer, searching her. “You’re not an assassin. There’s no shame in admitting you can’t.”

            “I said I’ll do it,” Kifu hissed. The small flame of her ever-present fury flared. All she had to do was remember what she’d witnessed that morning. The gory images were fixed in her mind; recall wouldn’t be difficult.

            Kifu turned to look at the other man Kakashi had asked her to dispatch. He was already gone. In the time it took Kifu to stall and lose her wits, Kakashi had slain three in utter silence.

            “Thirty more men,” Kakashi reminded her. “Twelve more buildings. Let’s go.”

            Kifu forced her step to match Kakashi’s as he left and made a beeline to the next building. As before, he pointed out each man, and then pointed to the two he expected her to exterminate.

            Kifu approached the nearer of the two and stared down at him. Red flashed across her vision, reminding her of the monster hidden behind the peacefully slumbering facade on his face. She vividly recalled the ambiguous men forcefully bringing people down to the ground and slicing them to pieces. Kifu wanted to do it to him. She couldn’t.

            Trying to keep her movements minimal, working hard to breath past the lump still in her throat, Kifu plunged her knife deep into the man’s chest, right where the heart rested. It worked before; she wasn’t about to experiment with her way yet. She threw herself over the man’s body, holding him down with her entire weight, and pulled the blade promptly out. She leaned over his throat, blocking his voice from working before the life left him. Warm blood spattered across her thighs and stomach, staining her for her dark actions.

            She didn’t allow herself time to think. She hopped down expeditiously and moved on to the next man, taking him out in similar fashion.

            If she shut out her emotions, her fears, it wasn’t so bad.

            Kakashi stood before her, sizing her up. “You okay?”

            “Let’s finish this.” She was near her zone, where her thoughts remained shut out. It was the best state to be in while in less than exemplary situations.

            Kakashi took her words for face value and led the way to the next building without delay.

            Kifu barely made out Taya’s hidden form on their way to the third building. She stood alert, her stance wide and ready. So far, they were all safe. Kifu wanted to finish things and get out of there. She’d sleep well once they were a safe distance away from this field of death.

            Kakashi pointed out the men, as before, but Kifu didn’t need his help in distinguishing human from living space anymore. Just as it took her time to learn how to spot the presence of large game in the twilight hours of day, Kifu only had to learn the signs of their existence. She dispatched her first man quickly, using the same method as she had before.

            Kifu leaned her entire weight on the hand holding down the man’s neck when she noticed Kakashi jerk as if he’d been slapped. Her eyes jolted in his direction, immediately inferring that his kill had gotten the better of him.

            He turned abruptly, noticed her attention on him, and pointed deeper into the building. “The other two are yours.” In an eyeblink, he disappeared through the door just as a sharp, high-pitched whistle cut through the air. The sound ended as quickly as it started. An alarm call. Not one that Taya had earlier agreed upon.

            Instinctually, Kifu wanted to race out into open air to assist. Her body lurched forward off of the man’s corpse, but she’d only gotten in a couple steps to recover her balance. She hesitated, hovering in one spot, before regaining her wits. She’d have to dispatch the remainder of this building before she could leave. Allowing them to live would only open their defenses from behind.

            One man stirred in his sleep, and Kifu pounced on him first. She slammed the blade of her knife between his rips, the entire weight of her body behind the strike. As soon as her knees landed, she pulled the blade out and pressed its edge to his neck, allowing it to sink into his flesh. She watched over her shoulder at the doorway, hoping to get a glimpse of the cause of alarm.

            She missed the last man waking.

            Her toes tapped the floor with ease before she noticed him.

            His groggy confusion saved her from a skirmish.

            Kifu struck quickly, flinging herself forward into him. She twisted with practiced ease to keep her balance while he struggled to stay upright. She threw a knee into his chest, sliced with her knife, landed on him for cushion, and finished the attack with the knife embedded in his heart.

            Few sounds escaped from the exchange. No sounds reached Kifu’s ears from outside.

            Kifu burst out of the building, digging her heels in to the earth to stop herself at the threshold. She looked around with worry, trying to find signs behind Kakashi’s immediate withdraw. The place Taya had hid was empty.

            Twenty-two men remained in the raze group. They couldn’t afford their silent plan going awry this early. The sheer numbers were still against them.

            Crouching low, Kifu sauntered over to the place she’d last seen Taya. She hoped to glean some information concerning the rest of her company’s whereabouts. Kifu didn’t think she could continue this mission out alone while they toiled in the unknown, lest her nerves crumble and fail her. Kakashi was the one with the information on the enemies’ locations. And her team was more important than the mission in the first place. With her head clear for some semblance of thought, Kifu would never risk Taya’s life.

            Kifu didn’t have time to search the dirt for answers. She heard small signs of a struggle from the other side of the structure, possibly attributed to Taya’s and Kakashi’s disappearance, but she hadn’t been the only one. Two men stumbled from the building over, sobering up quickly as they stepped under the stars.

            Kifu didn’t wait. She dashed toward them with as much speed as she could muster, knife brandished before her. Whatever her prey had been fixated on before switched at the slight noise of her incoming footfalls.

            One man shouted unintelligibly and pointed at her. His partner sidestepped away, and Kifu took note of his position. He wasn’t running. He wasn’t flagging others for help. He simply stepped away from the immediate confrontation to aide his companion, should he fail. It was a decent enough tactic, if Kifu had the skill level of a peasant.

            The man under direct attack brought up an arm to catch Kifu’s knife arm, as if to deflect the blade away from himself. Kifu allowed her forearm to slam into his, letting the guard to take the brunt of the impact. Balancing herself quickly, Kifu drove her knee between the man’s legs and allowed him to simply drop. She’d worry about him in a second.

            The second man came in wide, brandishing his much larger blade in at an arm’s length trajectory. Kifu watched him, unmoving, until he brought himself in closer. Ducking his blade with ease, she threw herself into him from the squat of her dodge, and drove the point of her blade through his back. He screamed. Grimacing at the noise, Kifu pulled her knife free, tugged his back into herself, and drew the cutting edge across his neck. He dropped gracelessly.

            She returned her attention to the first man. He staggered back to his feet, one hand holding his crotch. He tried to gather himself into a more intimidating stance as Kifu approached, but for naught. His head snapped back in the force of Kifu’s knick, and he fell in slow motion to his back. Kifu stepped beside him calmly, dropped her knee onto his chest, and dispatched him like his comrades before.

            When she assessed her surroundings, she saw no more foes. No more than twenty men left to assassinate, but Kifu still had to find Kakashi and Taya.

            She scampered off to where she’d heard signs of a scuffle and finally caught sight of her teammates. A few men already lay at their feet, still. Taya worked on fending off two men, Bin snarling beside her, while Kakashi dealt with three. The odds were not in their favors.

            Kifu managed to bring herself in close to the melee without alerting her opponents. It allowed her to pounce on one man’s back and slash his throat before he even completely lost his balance.

            Taya embedded the head of her axe in a man’s shoulder, eliciting a growling scream from the man. Kifu could hear Taya’s curse; she aimed for something else. She wrenched the axe free just in time to jump back from her second opponent’s attack. In the heartbeat of time, Bin took the opening and flew across Taya to sink his teeth into the already wounded man’s other arm. The man howled. Unblinking, Taya swung her axe into the second man’s collar, and brought him down as Bin shook the first man into pieces.

            Kakashi held an oddly shaped double-bladed knife in one hand. He moved quickly, more on the defense as he kept the two men left on him back and away from Taya. Kakashi acknowledged Kifu with the briefest of eye smiles, and then the two people he’d been playing with crumpled. Dead.

            The man pinned under Bin quit his howling with a soft thunk of Taya’s axe, and silence remained. Kifu stood up tall, a little thunderstruck. What all had just happened? She hadn’t actually seen Kakashi strike finishing blows, had she?

            “That’s nine less,” Taya said a little breathlessly.

            “I took out two more that wandered out of their hut before finding you guys,” Kifu said.

            Kakashi hummed. “Eleven men left, then?”

            Kifu shrugged. She wasn’t about to work that out in her head.

            Taya pointed into the dark, a ghost of a smile flashing across her face. “That man, he wandered out to take a piss. He died before he finished.” Whatever amusement Taya had dropped completely. “I don’t know where the other men came from.” She looked to Bin and patted his head. “I think Bin alerted Kakashi, because it wasn’t me.”

            “I’m surprised we don’t have more of them wandering out of the buildings,” Kifu said. She spun around, eyes darting from one doorway to the next. “That got a little loud.”

            “Spoke a little soon there, boss,” Taya said lightly. She pointed off to a building, where a man looked about with confusion. Kifu could have taken him down with her bow, if she hadn’t left it behind for safe keeping.

            Kakashi, it appeared, didn’t have the same long distance limitations as either Kifu or Taya. He swung his arm almost casually and threw the odd knife he’d been using into the man’s chest. He staggered back with wide eyes before falling deeper into the building. Kifu snapped her attention to Kakashi, a little alarmed at his accuracy with a knife over such a distance.

            “Ten left,” Taya said.

            “You’re not supposed to throw your weapon away,” Kifu said slowly. It was something she’d chide a Tribesling for, or a less experienced adult. Kakashi was neither.

            “I have more,” Kakashi said. “Kunai are meant for throwing.”

            So that odd knife was called a kunai. Kifu would have to ask him about them later, when they weren’t trying to exterminate an entire group of rabid men.

            Bin bristled beside Taya again, his lip pulling away from his white teeth in a warning smile. Taya gently placed a hand on his mane and sunk back into an athletic stance with her axe at the ready, her eyes scanning for the reason to Bin’s alert.

            “They’re gathering forces and organizing, aren’t they?” Kifu asked flatly.

            “Seems that way,” Taya replied, tight lipped.

            “Good. We’ll get this over sooner that way,” Kakashi proclaimed. Kifu couldn’t help but send him a sidelong glance. She did not appreciate feeling overwhelmed. A couple at a time were more than enough for her.

            Two men exploded into view from behind a building wall behind Bin, alarmingly close for having escaped their notice. Kakashi reacted instantly, separating the two of them and pushing one toward Kifu, as if he were an offering. Kifu rolled her eyes and tripped him up further before he could regain his balance from Kakashi’s push. He stumbled into the wall, catching himself heavily with his arms. Slamming her body into his, she reached around and dragged her knife across his throat, and immediately spun to put the wall to her back for protection.

            “They’re pretty awful at defending themselves,” Kifu commented.

            The remainder of the men fell on them. They materialized from hiding places and shadows deeper than the comprehension of their eyes. These men weren’t tired, out with their dick in their hands for a midnight piss, or wandering confusedly to investigate an odd noise out of place amidst the screams of the toads and frogs. No, these men knew what they were up against and they were ready: weapons in hand, still painted in the viscera of the villagers, and poised to kill.

            “You should work on the timing of your words,” Kakashi grunted. He deflected the blade of an incoming machete with another one of his kunai, redirecting the momentum of its trajectory for his advantage.

            “I do have a habit of speaking hastily tonight, don’t I?” Kifu quipped. She ducked low to avoid a swung, and launched herself into the man’s legs to bring him down to the ground. Before she could strike a killing blow, she had to roll away from another man’s attack, and she missed her opportunity. She sprung back to her feet, now an uncomfortable distance away from the protection of that wall. And her teammates.

            The men shouted and screamed, but Kifu saw it as more of an intimidation factor than anything else. One’s yelps rose above the din of the struggle, and Kifu caught Bin attached to a man’s limb out of the corner of her eye. Taya came in heavily to back him up.

            Kifu found herself primarily on the defense, deflecting blades with her forearms and ducking out of the way when she couldn’t bring her arms up fast enough. Even if she saw openings, she couldn’t switch to the offensive long enough to take it. She was forced backwards, stepping further and further away from Kakashi, let alone Taya and Bin.

            A knife came in toward her side. She slapped the wrist away with the palm of her hand. A hatchet swung in from her other side. She stepped back and deflected the little momentum left with an arm guard. Kifu didn’t have the time to assess her opponents; she had too many of them on her. It took her entire concentration to keep them from sliding behind her or from landing a solid blow.

            Her defenses started to slip before she found an opening for offense. She couldn’t move fast enough to deflect the blade edges before they bit into her skin. A soundless snarl captured her face as her stamina dwindled. Kifu wasn’t meant for this type of battle. She wasn’t going to win. Sweat beaded across her lip and forehead, cascading down her temples and nose. The palm of her hand held tight to the hilt of her knife, but she knew that she couldn’t adjust her grip or risk losing it entirely.

            Eventually her back bit into the side of one of the buildings. Kifu was left with nowhere to go, and she didn’t have the opportunity to assess the status of her comrades. All that remained in her world what was immediately before her and behind her: a wall, and three monstrous men with murder in their eyes.

            Kifu needed to think. She needed to strategize and risk more than her skin to make it out of her corner alive. With a feral growl, she threw herself sideways into the man with the hatchet. She waited for that infinitesimal opening when he wouldn’t necessarily be off-balanced, but when the hatchet head wouldn’t find itself buried in her shoulder. The man opposite him missed his strike, as Kifu was suddenly gone, but the man in the middle managed to bury his knife into the flesh of her upper arm. The hatchet man stumbled backwards, but wasn’t out of the fight. Kifu ripped the knife from the middle man’s grasp and let gravity take it to the ground.

            Middle man staggered forward and into the wall, cutting off the man farthest from Kifu, if only temporarily. He roared, reaching toward his back, but his coordination was gone.

            Using his blunder to her advantage, Kifu kneed the hatchet man in the gut before he fully got his feet back underneath him, and dragged her blade across his throat. She readied herself for one of the other men to strike.

            The disarmed man bellowed incoherently and made no move to reach for his discarded knife. The last man, his face glowing with rage, plowed through him and made a calculated leap to Kifu. One-on-one, even tired, Kifu had the advantage. She easily slithered out of his reach, blocked his next attack with the arm guard, and levelled a dirty kick into his knee. He crumpled before the pain registered. Grounding her foot, Kifu drove her knee up his nose. The man fell gracelessly, silent. Despite feeling confident she’d killed him without blade, Kifu slit his throat just in case. A hunter always finished the job.

            All that remained from her group was the mysteriously hysterical man.

            Kifu looked about her quickly with a predatory glance, ensuring she was safe from additional assailants, and sauntered up to the man, grabbing him by his hair. He almost didn’t seem to notice before she ended him as well. Seeing a kunai in his back as he dropped, Kifu grabbed the blade and brandished it to its owner, twirling it between her fingers. “That’s the best shot you had?”

            “It looked like you needed a little help,” Kakashi shot back with one of his eye smiles. Even from far away in the dark, Kifu could see the exaggerated squeeze of his eye.

            “They were still pretty bad at defending themselves,” Kifu said in defense. She stepped over the bodies and towards her companions.

            “They had little training,” Kakashi agreed.

            “Only rage,” Taya added.

            “And muscle,” Kifu finished, punctuating it with a yawn. “That was the last ten?”

            Taya nodded her chin downwards in affirmation.

            “Sleep, then. I’m grabbing my bow. We’ll head back towards the mountains until we can’t smell blood. And we’re sleeping until new sun birds wake us.”

            Even close, Kifu didn’t see emotion cross Kakashi’s face. Taya raised a brow at Kifu in a brief show of bewilderment, and then wordlessly led the way back to where Kifu had deposited her bow and quiver. To sleep so soon after an adrenaline-filled event seemed far-fetched, but they only had so much time before the sun rose again. Their excitement would fail by the time they distanced themselves from this gory scene. Nor would guilt keep Kifu awake. For Kifu, it didn’t matter how she brought about a death, so long as it was humane as possible. Those who let another suffer were the brutes. Those who killed for sport were the monsters. Killing had to have a purpose. Removing these monsters from the world was justified.

            Taya’s uncanny sense of direction took them away from the silent village without further complication. She moved carefully, but with purpose. Bin remained by her side, trotting as tirelessly as always.

            Kifu walked silently behind Kakashi, watching his feet as they carried him over the dark forest floor. The steady rhythm of their march through the trees were enough to turn Kifu’s brain off and allow her to coast without thought. But that never happened. She couldn’t help but remain victim to her wandering thoughts. To think about how close Kakashi had come to emotion when he’d asked if she could play the part of assassin. If she truly could take a leaf from his book.

            Did he even like himself? Could one truly like themselves after taking a life? How many people had Kakashi killed solely because he’d been ordered to in his life before the Tribe? Was that why Kakashi never felt like he was really there?

            Kifu knew nothing about this man. She didn’t know how she could come close to understanding him.

            As if feeling the weight of her scrutiny, Kakashi looked over his shoulder at her. “Hmm?” His steady forward pace paused so that she caught up to him and they were almost walking side-by-side. For now, the underbrush was fairly clear, compliments of the acidic pine needles coating the earth.

            Kifu opened her mouth as if to ask him one of those burning questions, but hesitated. Just because Kakashi was the first killer she’d come across that didn’t want to threaten her and her world, didn’t mean that she could completely open up to him without thought.

            “What’s on your mind?” he asked her. She appreciated that he spoke softly enough that his voice wouldn’t carry to Taya.

            What could Kifu say that wouldn’t sound silly? Naïve? Childish? She wanted to think that Kakashi wasn’t the man she expected, but at the same time, his behavior and actions in that village didn’t come as a surprise. She still trusted him despite it all – and that perhaps scared Kifu more than anything.

            Kakashi watched her with his impassive eye. “Are you remorseful of your role?”

            “No,” Kifu said quickly. She didn’t feel any dirtier than she had before. This was less personal than the other reasons for blood on her hands. “I … I guess … how long have you been … doing this?” she asked uncertainly.

            “How long have I been an assassin?” Kakashi asked. His brow raised minutely.

            Kifu faltered. That was a horrible question to ask.

            “I’ve been a shinobi since I was five. An elite jōnin since twelve. I joined the ANBU, the assassin corps, soon after that.”

            “A shinobi – what is that?” Kifu asked. The blood throughout her body felt cold. Twelve. He’d become an assassin, at least specifically an assassin, when he was twelve. Kifu hadn’t even become Kumji’s apprentice at that age.

            “Our village’s version of a warrior.”

            Kifu’s breath hitched, and a shock of ice spilled down her spine. Did Kakashi mean to say that he’d been a warrior since he was five? Kifu didn’t have the means to fully comprehend the repercussions of such a thing.

            “It was all I had in my life,” Kakashi explained. “I dedicated myself to it. It’s not as bad as it sounds,” he added passively.

            “I – I didn’t even have dreams of becoming a hunter that young,” Kifu said. At least, she didn’t think so. She wanted to be with her father all of the time, but she didn’t want to be just like him until well after her brother, Shinka, was born.

            “Our village knew war better than it understood peace,” Kakashi continued. “Our young are raised up as shinobi. It’s, well, normal.” He breathed deep, the whisper of his breath faintly audible over the sounds of their feet. “Our childhood isn’t necessarily robbed from us that way, but I’m sure many shinobi had better youths than your Tribesmembers. It sounds like you might have been lucky to have less ambitious dreams for your future before you joined the Tribe.”

            Kifu pressed her lips together and slid her eyes away. Kakashi wasn’t wrong. Kifu did have a pretty decent childhood, even if her play was almost always controlled by an overbearing adult. “My apologies. I may have judged too quickly.” Kakashi said nothing. “How do you … forgive yourself?” Kifu asked.

            Kifu didn’t let every death weigh on her; she wouldn’t be able to bear it if that were the case. She understood these men were monstrous killing machines that needed to be put down, as she would do for any pained predator that killed prey without eating. But killing a human being was absolutely a line that she crossed and could not forgive herself for having done so in the first place. She still saw Kumji’s tight expression as the light left his eyes. Kumji was not a good person, but he was a person Kifu knew well before fate guided her hands into red.

            “I don’t,” Kakashi said with an edge Kifu wasn’t expecting. She started, her eyes returning to him in a single jump. “Time doesn’t dull the pain. It only makes you focus on other things, too. We need to find our reasons to keep going.”

            Kifu licked her lips before dropping her eyes back to the ground. She’d called it when he first arrived. Kakashi was broken and asked to protect. Just like Kifu. She only wished that he’d had more profound advice to offer her for it.