It was a sunny day in Konoha. Shinobi leapt from roof to roof, rushing to fulfil some duty or another as civilians and the odd unlucky team of genin bustled below them, working to rebuild the Village after the failed invasion. People were in high spirits despite the destruction. Children were running about without supervision, their parents trusting the shinobi above them to alert them to any danger.

The Village itself was entirely too big to bear such a meager title, its population easily large enough to rival many prominent cities within the Land of Fire. Its outward growth limited by an ancient wall, its buildings extended upward into leaning towers connected by taut wire bridges and strategically placed scaffolding. The walls were painted all manner of obnoxious colors, bright yellows and blues stinging the eyes of unprepared visitors, giant murals taking more space than they ought. Above it all, carved into the face of the mountain which protected the Village's rear, the faces of its leaders watched unseeing, their expressions solemn and unchanging.

Two figures alighted atop one of the taller apartment buildings, its roof, like all the others, flat for expedited shinobi travel. To outside observers, it appeared to be the end of a chase, likely between teacher and student. The child turned to the adult, shoulder length brown hair and long green haori whipping about with the force of the movement. Her face was halfway obscured by a mask not unlike the current Village leader's, leaving only round black eyes to express her displeasure.

"What do you want?" She demanded, her voice confined to the rooftop despite its volume by liberally applied seals cleverly hidden from view. She gestured angrily with one hand, the other missing entirely. It was a tragic injury in one so young, but not wholly unexpected for a shinobi. Many had suffered similar injuries during the invasion, and even more had lost their lives.

The adult who'd followed her crossed his arms over his chest, his own haori a bright, eyecatching red, even in the colorful Village. Red was reserved for emergencies, marking urgent communications and civilian bunkers. His white hair, too, was odd. Falling down his back in a tail which nearly brushed his ankles, its sheer length marked him as incredibly skilled, as even kunoichi rarely wore their hair past their shoulders for fear of an enemy using it against them. His age was another indicator of his strength. Rarely did a shinobi live long enough for lines to mar their face.

The lines on his deepened as he scowled. "Don't give me that, chibi. You know damned well what."

She mimicked his stance, crossing her arms despite her missing limb. "Clearly, I don't!"

"I designed the seals in T&I myself, chibi! I know exactly the level of skill needed to trigger the reaction they had yesterday, and you're the only person in the village besides me who would even know where to begin!"

"That you know of," she returned, shaking her head. "Just because I'm the only one who thought to approach you about it—."

"Don't try to foist this off onto someone else, brat!" He pointed one large finger at her, anger reddening his face. "You spent the lockdown in a room with Kumo's jinchuriki and the minute it was lifted he started pushing his brother to make reparations to the Hyuuga Clan."

"And?" She turned away from him, her one hand twisting dismissively. "That's your evidence? For all you know he was always gonna do that!"

"Don't lie to me!"

The girl turned back to the man, her eyes wide and almost afraid. He, too, seemed surprised by his outburst, though he hid it well. He took a deep breath, putting on a show of calming himself.

"Listen to me, chibi. Your grandmother was from Kiri, and it stands to reason that both you and your mother were born there, as well. You've managed to situate yourself as the heir to one of Konoha's founding clans, have befriended not one, but two jinchuriki—one of which attacked the Village—and have been confirmed as having the ear of a third. Your sensei is the Jounin Commander, and your relationship with the Last Uchiha is almost too close for comfort. Can you at least say you understand why all of that would be cause for concern?"

Her face crumpled, tears welling in her already red rimmed eyes. "W-what? I-I haven't done anything wrong!"

The man's scowl deepened. "Chibi, I know for a fact that you tampered with the seals in T&I. The Anbu agents who left you alone with three jinchuriki showed signs of acting while under a genjutsu, and the surveillance seals for that room are all utterly unsalvageable. Even excluding all that," he held up a hand, counting down on his fingers as he spoke. "You knew about Agent Neko, about Naruto's jinchuriki status and the threat posed to him by Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki despite having zero contact with anyone who'd encountered them, about Kabuto Yakushi's allegiance to Orochimaru, and about Orochimaru's experiments involving the mokuton! And these are just the secrets you've revealed in the last week!"

Throughout his litany, the visible portion of the girl's face grew increasingly paler, the freckles on her skin and the vivid red rings around her eyes standing out in stark contrast. Her one hand clutched at the black fabric of her shirt with a white knuckled grip.

"There's only so much I can excuse, chibi," the man continued, either unaware of or ignoring her growing distress. "Being a genius is one thing, actively disseminating the information you find is another entirely."

"But I," her voice was small and wavering, tears spilling over as she looked up at the man imploringly. "I didn't do anything."

"Didn't you? Then you won't mind telling me exactly what happened when the alarms went off in T&I, now will you?"

"I already told Yamanaka-sama what happened," she insisted almost angrily. "You know that!"

"And I'm sure your story won't be any different if you tell it again."

She growled. Really growled. The sound filled the air, rolling with the promise of violence.

"Why do you keep doing this?" Her voice was rough, edged by inhuman emotion. "Every time, you just-just pick on me! Is it fun? Do you get some kind of kick out of messing with me?"

The old man's face went slack in surprise, his body losing some of its aggressive tension. "What? Chibi that's—no! Where'd you even get that idea?"

"Is it because we're related, then?" Her expression was deathly serious as she looked up at him, taking a step forward with a clenched fist. "Do you think you can do all of this because we're family? That there won't be any repercussions for treating me this way?"

"Chibi, I don't—."

"Because this isn't fair! I know you know that! So what if my mom was from Kiri? You're the one who made her! Why am I the one being suspected over it? It's not my fault!"

The man watched, gaping in shock, as she rubbed at her face with her one hand, sniffling pitifully. She pulled down the fabric of her mask, revealing a pointed chin and quivering lips. The skin there was paler, with fewer freckles, indicating she wore her mask more often than not.

"It's not my fault," she repeated, sharp double canines catching the light as she bared them at the much taller man. "I didn't do anything wrong!"

He held up his hands, dark eyes wide as he tried to placate her. "Easy, chibi. Let's not get riled up."

"No!" She pointed her finger up at him, face twisted by an angry scowl. "You don't get to do that! You're the one leveling baseless accusations at me! I'm allowed to be upset about that!"

"They aren't baseless!" He pinched the bridge of his nose, seething with frustration. "Look me in the eye and tell me I have no reason to pursue this. You're smart enough to know how bad it all looks, chibi."

"And you're smart enough to know that chasing down a literal child is not the way to go about this!"

He opened his mouth. Closed it. Opened it again. Let out a hissing breath between clenched teeth. "Chibi, the moment you put on that headband, you became an adult."

"I was seven!"

"That's the life you signed up for—."

"No, it isn't! I didn't choose to be a shinobi! The council chose for me! Like it does for every convenient orphan in this village!"

"Chibi," his tone was low and serious. "Mind your words."

"Or what? I'll disappear? You'd like that, wouldn't you? It'd solve all your problems if I just vanished."

"That's enough!"

They stood in silence, a breeze tugging at their hair. Someone laughed on the streets below, the sound carrying up to the rooftops along with the rhythmic banging of hammers and idle civilian chatter. The shinobi stared at each other, their anger palpable as it filled the air between them, twisting and snapping as their chakra demanded release.

"Go away."

He dropped his scowl, face going slack in surprise. "Chibi—."

"Go away!" Her expression was thunderous. "I don't know what I did to make you hate me, and I don't even care, anymore. Just go away and leave me alone!"

He stared at her, open mouthed. Then, he ran a hand down his face, dragging at skin in an exaggerated display of irritation.

"Fine. We'll continue this once you've calmed down."

He disappeared, leaving the girl alone on the rooftop as he went who knew where. Without him, she sagged, the tension visibly draining from her frail body. She sniffed loudly and rubbed at her face, wiping her nose on the sleeve of her haori.

In an instant, her hackles were back up, dark eyes dancing to and fro as she suddenly found herself surrounded. Her hand reached into the kunai pouch fastened to her thigh, but a shuriken embedded itself in the concrete by her boot, halting her movements.

"Ah ah ah~," one of the newcomers crooned. "None of that."

Four people stood around her in a square formation, all of them taller than her by significant margins. They wore variations of the same outfit, a white tunic tied in place by an oversized purple rope.

One of them, the only woman, sniffed loudly and tossed a lock of red hair from her face. "This is the one Orochimaru-sama sent us to get? She's a cripple."

"Shut up, Tayuya,"another scolded, light glancing off his Oto hitai-ate as he adjusted it with one of his six hands. "It's not our place to question him. This little cripple has something he wants."

She shifted her weight and raised her injured arm between them. "Awfully bold of you, attacking in broad daylight."

The silver haired one laughed at her expense, his voice surprisingly deep. "Quit your babbling, weakling. That old man didn't even notice we were here. What makes you think anyone else will?"

"Sakon."

"Tch."

The one with six arms was clearly the leader and he stepped toward the girl, grin widening as she stepped back in tandem. "Kabuto said you'd probably know why we're here, though it seems like that's a running theme with you. Feel like sharing, chibi-chan?"

Her eyes narrowed, gaze jumping from him to the woman. If she were a dog, her ears would have swiveled toward the two men behind her. "You're the Sound Four, one for each of the cardinal directions; North, South, East, West. You've brought me an offer from Orochimaru."

The group stilled, their easy confidence shaken.

"Holy...Kabuto was right." The largest one clenched his teeth and pressed his hands together in preparation for combat. "We can't let her get away."

"Hold, Jirobou," the leader interjected, his grin still in place as he stepped even closer to his target. "So," he asked her. "If you know what we're here for, you must have an answer, right?"

Her lips thinned into a grim line, straight brows furrowing. "Everything I do, I do for the good of the world."

The leader arched a brow. "The world? Not the Village?"

She bared her sharp teeth in a pale facsimile of a smile. "The Village is in the world, isn't it?"

"So that's a no."

"Yeah, it's a no."

He sighed dramatically, shrugging with all six arms. "That's too bad. You would have been an interesting comrade." His expression closed off, all signs of levity gone. "Get her."