Mission

Danzō's orders were clear. This mission was recon only – they were under strict instruction not to engage the enemy until given the clearance to do so. They were not to take any potential opportunities that may arise to save the Namikaze children.

Kakashi was going to defy mission parameters if given the opportunity to get the children back.

Damn the consequences. He'd deal with them.

But the Land of Rain was proving to be challenging for Kakashi's senses. The drizzle of rain when they'd entered the country hadn't been so bad, but once they'd made it into the ninja city of Amegakure the slow trickle had become a continual downpour.

They'd been here two days and it had yet to stop. It eased, here and there, but it never stopped raining.

Kakashi didn't know how anyone could want to live in a place so dreary. And it wasn't just the weather, it was the overall atmosphere. The tall, dark, metal buildings that seemed to scrape the sky and the way the people carried themselves. Like they all had a chip on their shoulder. Their gazes were desolate and full of distrust and there seemed to be a deep rage that festered within the city itself.

After generations of being trampled during the Great Wars, Kakashi supposed he could understand why they were like that.

The only thing that seemed to liven the people here was to talk of their leader… not Hanzō, whom the Leaf had thought was still the Kage of Amegakure. As it turned out, Hanzō was dead. The new leader's name was Pain.

And the people spoke of Pain as if he were a savior. A god.

Danzō hadn't offered much information prior to sending Kakashi with a team of 'Root' ANBU into the enemy's turf. The elder had debriefed them on an organization called 'the Akatsuki' whose goals were heretofore unknown, other than that they'd gone to war with Hanzō in recent years over the control of Ame.

Clearly, they had won.

"Look north, down the street and to the left." One of Kakashi's team mumbled as they walked along, constantly observing, watching and listening for any information.

Oftentimes civilians knew more than they thought they did, and they didn't keep as tight of a control on their mouths as shinobi did. The best way to gather intel was usually by simply interacting with shopkeepers.

Kakashi discreetly turned his one eyed stare toward where his team mate had directed him, and his heart damn near stopped beating when he saw a small child with distinct crimson hair, walking beside a tall and heavily pierced orange haired man, deep in conversation.

Who could that child be if not Fū?

But why would her kidnappers allow her to walk freely in the streets of Ame, even if Konoha had called off the search? Who was the man she was with? Surely someone of extreme skill – the cloak he wore was black with red clouds and it covered his mouth. According to Danzō, this cloak was the best identifier of an Akatsuki member.

'So she has an escort.' Kakashi thought as the pair drew closer and he could see, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the child was indeed Namikaze Taifū. Beyond appearance, he'd recognize that high pitched and childishly shrill voice anywhere. It always grated against his ears like none other.

"...well that's not the point, is it? " Fū was saying to the orange haired man, Kakashi strained to hear over the rain, desperate to hear her. Not just what she was saying but just to hear Fū speaking.

Until a year and a half ago he'd never thought he would miss the pain in his ears when she was talking. Feeling it now stirred a rush of fond old memories, memories of being cajoled and manipulated into looking after the girl by her parents, that he had to bury because they twisted his gut.

"Then what is the point?" The orange man replied, they were almost on top of Kakashi and his teammate, now.

Fū huffed and rolled her eyes. Sensei's eyes. "The point, Pain-sama, is that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.* The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.*"

This gave Kakashi a mental pause. Firstly, because the Akatsuki member Fū was walking with was the Kage of Ame and the Leader of the Akatsuki. Second, because she'd just sassed the man and he wasn't retaliating. And thirdly, because of what she'd said.

Fū had always been a bright child. She and Uchiha Itachi had often consumed knowledge at an alarming rate, later they'd debated many topics – philosophy, mostly. Fū's predilection toward ideas that seemed radical had been a topic that Minato-sensei had often spoken with Kakashi about.

Minato-sensei had been worried that Taifū would be overheard speaking about things that could paint a target on her back. In Konoha, the younger generation – Minato and Kushina's generation – actively encouraged individualistic minds and civil discourse. The elder generation emphatically did not.

Like Shimura Danzō, for instance. He believed he knew best and to question his wisdom was to betray the village.

Hearing Fū just then reminded him of what Konoha had lost when they'd lost the Fourth Hokage. No one seemed to be debating such arguments, speaking of topics like the one Fū was just then, since Minato-sensei's passing. The village was stagnating.

Meanwhile, Namikaze Taifū was held captive in a foreign country by a foreign Kage and still carrying on with an impressive eloquence and refreshing mindset. Enriching lives even when her's was being held in the hands of an enemy.

'Danzō really thinks I won't try to bring her home.' Kakashi thought as Pain responded. 'Well, I won't. Not until I know where Naruto is as well.'

Only because she seemed safe enough for now.

"You believe change can be implemented through sheer force of willpower and enough people who believe the same?" The Kage questioned, no inflection to indicate how he felt about her words.

Kakashi's palms were sweaty. The duo was passing now, and so close. It wouldn't take much to reach out and brush his fingers against Fū's, but he didn't know if she would react or not. And he didn't have a message to try to give her. Not to mention her companion was a shinobi with a high enough skill level to be a Kage.

He was stricken with regret that he couldn't do or say anything as Fū walked passed without noticing him.

"That's the only way it ever happens," Taifū said as they continued on without pause. "One person alone cannot change the world, but they can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples."

Kakashi didn't see Pain's eyes, and they way they glanced at him as they passed, too preoccupied with his own emotions.

#

"The Leaf's 'Sharingan no Kakashi' is here," Pain informed Obito, voice a displeased rumble, as soon as he appeared in the man's office. "He and an ANBU team under Danzō's orders have been here for two days. I allowed him to see the girl and myself on our weekly walk this afternoon."

Obito did his best not to outwardly show that this information affected him at all as he slumped down into the chair opposite Pain, draping his legs over the arm. A picture of nonchalance.

Internally, he was anything but.

Kakashi would not take Fū. Obito would not allow it.

"I told you Konoha shinobi are relentless," Obito sighed, shrugging his shoulders. "It was only a matter of time before someone showed up here. I'm surprised it took so long, and curious as to why it wasn't Jiraiya who found her first. "

"Jiraiya-sensei has yet to approach Amegakure, but I suspect he is near." Pain folded his hands on the desk in front of him, rinnegan trained on Obito. "Given this, we must discuss the girl's future in the Akatsuki."

Obito's brow raised under his mask and he remained silent, gesturing for Pain to continue.

"We have yet to speak on the ideas Uzumaki-san brought to our attention during our last meeting, as you had to return to Kirigakure. Konan and I have had an extensive discussion in your absence, and we would like to implement some of the girl's ideas into the plan."

"I see," Obito said, stomach churning. He wasn't fond of the idea that Konan and Nagato were conspiring when Obito wasn't there, but it was an unavoidable symptom of his own sporadic absences. They still had a village to run alongside the Akatsuki.

And, admittedly, he'd made himself scarce the last couple days following Fū's first Akatsuki meeting, despite having returned for one night and apologized to her. The truth was, between what she'd admitted to him and the things she'd expressed in the meeting, Obito was having a difficult time.

As of yet, he'd not asked her what she'd meant when she said Madara had been manipulated, and so had Obito by extension. He wanted to know, but he also didn't want to push her. It was clear that she was hesitant to discuss the story, and her past, with him since his severe reaction that first time.

But there were things he needed to know to figure out how he needed to proceed. So he'd have to talk with her.

"What did you and Konan conclude?"

"In my time over the past several months dissecting and challenging her to long debates I have come to think of Uzumaki Fū as a deep-thinking, revolutionary minded, intellectual." Pain began, his eyes closing as if he was envisioning what he was speaking. "The likes of which I have never encountered. The likes of which I doubt anyone has encountered. At least in this century. Simply put, she sees the world as if from a different angle than the rest of us do."

Yes, Obito supposed she would. Because she came from an altogether different reality. That was bound to have shaped her view of this world. What was it she'd said to him, when her indignation had risen past the cap of her fear?

'When you get reincarnated into a volatile world full of powerful people who can wield dangerous magic and you're just a terrified three year old who doesn't know how to navigate such a violent world that's so very different from the one you knew before then you can make better decisions than I have!'

"Konan and I think there is merit to Uzumaki-san's ideas, like increasing diplomatic relations with the other small nations. The ideas are good, but they need refining. Additionally, I would like to see if she indeed possesses the skill necessary to create an extensive fūinjutsu network to protect the small, landlocked nations like ours. Doing so would eliminate the greater shinobi villages' ability to wage wars with each other using the small nations as their battleground."

"If she doesn't possess the skill yet, she will soon enough." Obito said under his breath, in deep thought. To Pain, he said; "She needs more training."

Pain nodded in Obito's peripheral vision. "I've been watching her train with you and Konan. It is my observation that the two of you have been preparing her to become a front line close-ranged fighter, and she is not learning from you because this is not her natural skillset."

That drew Obito's attention back to the Kage, lips pursed from behind the mask. He'd just assumed she'd be a front liner like her parents had been, and fūinjusu often required the master to touch their target or place paper seals on a target. That would indicate a need for the fūinjusu user to be close.

But he didn't know anything about the Uzumaki style. Other than Kushina-san, they'd been long dead at the time of his own birth. It hadn't even occurred to him that Fū wasn't learning because she might have a different style… different training requirements entirely.

What did Nagato know (or what had he discovered) that Obito didn't?

"I would ask that you consider allowing her to continue her training with Akasuna no Sasori," Pain suggested.

Out of the question.

"Sasori won't stay in Ame, he has an extensive spy network to run," Obito batted the thought away in distaste.

"He can take her with him."

Again, out of the question.

"She is too young to leave, and too high-value to allow to wander around the continent with only one highly skilled missing nin as supervision. A volatile, highly skilled missing nin."

"Konoha knows she is here, but they have not seen the boy. If Uzumaki stays on the move, it is less likely they'll find her. Sasori will do nothing untoward, under threat of imminent death should he try."

"As you said, they already know she's here. There's nothing they can do to get past you, this is the safest place for her." Obito grit his teeth in annoyance. "Sasori is not so easily deterred."

"She does not need protection as much as she needs experience." Pain shot back, calm as could be against Obito's rising irritation. "In order to gain that, she must leave Ame and challenge herself. She also needs a mid-range teacher that can work with her and teach her how to avoid the close ranged combatants. Sasori teaching her may just save her life one day."

Obito fought for something to say to refute this, but found himself coming up short. The only thing he could say was; "She will refuse to leave the boy."

To which Pain was already prepared with an answer. "We will ensure his safety, and she can return as often as she likes once individual missions are completed. It would be no different than what it would have been if she had remained in Konoha and had been sent on missions once becoming a genin."

Obito opened his mouth to retort again, to thrash against this idea because the outside world was dangerous and it would be too easy for Fū to die and leave him behind like Rin had… and he knew he couldn't handle that. But Pain continued on unfettered.

"Do not allow your attachment to the girl to override your good judgment, Madara-sama," Pain said, voice as monotone as usual but the delivery was sharp. "Uzumaki-san is an asset, but hiding her away from the world stunts her growth in a way that would turn her into a liability over time."

Backed into a corner, Obito had no choice but to agree.

#

"Come again?" Fū asked, staring in uncomprehending confusion at Obito who'd just appeared in her kitchen and thrown his mask down in a huff, spewing nonsense about her leaving the city with Sasori of all people.

"Pain." Obito threw his hands in the air and then plopped himself down on one of the barstools at the kitchen island, face red. Even the part of his face that was made up of Hashirama cells was red, somehow. She didn't question that. "-wait, you know about Pain, don't you?"

She arched her brow, returning to chopping peppers for her own dinner. She'd give a few little bites to Naruto, too, but he wasn't likely to eat much of it. He was out for a nap right now and she wasn't going to wake him for another half hour.

Kid wasn't much for eating the minute he woke up.

"You mean Uzumaki Nagato?"

Obito huffed an incredulous laugh and shook his head, then slumped over in his seat as if defeated and pressed his forehead against the countertop with a groan.

"You okay, buddy?" Fū asked, lip twitching as she added some extra ingredients to the mix she was preparing, expecting Obito to be staying for dinner. "Need a hug? Stiff drink?"

"Yes," he mumbled, the sound muffled by his arms because he'd brought them up to cover his head. "I need details, Fū. I know I said 'when you're ready' but not knowing things is affecting how I'm working."

"I'd imagine," Fū said, eying him. "Problem I have is that, while I'd love to give you the whole run down, I don't know what the goal is anymore. I also don't know exactly where your head is at with the whole 'Eye of the Moon' plan…"

Obito's head snapped up and he leveled an irritated glare, missing all the heat, at her. "I don't know where my head is at, either. I need more information before I can begin to unravel that."

"But you're thinking you will unravel it, though?" Fū inquired with raised brows, using a kunai to slide the peppers and onions she'd chopped into the hot skillet, listening to the sizzle. Quietly, she added; "Because I don't want to help you achieve that future."

"What's so wrong about wanting to stop humanity from destroying each other?" Obito asked just as quietly, watching her work with a despondent look in his eye.

"Besides robbing people of their free will?" Fū grabbed a package of chicken she'd had in the fridge as the aroma from the cooking vegetables started to fill the air. "It's a ploy for Black Zetsu to resurrect it's…well I guess she's it's god; Kaguya Ōtsutsuki. Kaguya's intention is to use the people trapped in the Infinite Tsukuyomi, drain them of chakra, and make them into a White Zetsu army for her own goals."

Obito looked to be processing this while Fū started to cut the chicken into strips. Unable to stop herself, she continued talking.

"Black Zetsu is a manifestation of Kaguya's will. His only goal is to unseal her from the prison where her sons, the Sage of Six Paths and his brother Hamura, placed her inside after a three month battle between them. This was like… thousands of years ago. It was Zetsu who manipulated Madara. Really a lot of the issues in this world stemmed from Zetsu's interference; its ability to manipulate. All for the purpose of releasing Kaguya."

"I think that might be the most insane thing to come out of your mouth yet."

"You can have one in a minute–Tobi-nii!" Fū kissed her teeth and smacked at Obito's hand as he tried to steal a pepper from the pan. She missed and he succeeded, throwing it into his mouth. A grin stretched his scarred face as he chewed at her in a fit of defiant humor. She rolled her eyes and shrugged. "Don't blame me for how crazy it is, I didn't write the story. I just enjoyed it."

"So you're telling me that Zetsu is the true villain here?" Obito said around a mouthful of pepper. She wondered how much anger and hurt was simmering under the surface of his jovial demeanor. Because he can't be taking this news as well as he seemed to be.

After his blow up the other week, she supposed he was trying to quell whatever tumultuous emotions were raging through him so as not to scare her again. He had told her it wouldn't happen again, after all.

"Yes–" she nodded. "Don't speak with your mouthful."

"I find it hard to believe that," he said after swallowing and poking his tongue out at her childishly, "since he's been nothing but a help to me since before Madara died."

"White Zetsu has been a helper, and it's made up of Hashirama cells, yes? Black Zetsu isn't, though, is it?" Fū prompted, adding the chicken to the mix, now, and sprinkling some seasoning into the pan.

Obito pursed his lips and leaned back, folding his arms over his chest and she knew she'd hit the nail on the head. Now he was forced to think. He sat in silence while she continued to cook, keeping her mouth shut so he could inevitably come to the correct conclusion.

Unless he was an idiot.

Fū had faith in him, though.

When he spoke again, it was to change the subject back to what he'd originally mentioned when he'd appeared in the suite.

"Pain wants to send you out with Sasori when he leaves tomorrow."

"I can't leave Naruto."

"I told him that, he said they'd ensure he was well protected." Obito informed her with a deep frown. "Pain reminded me that this would be no different than if you had become a Konoha genin and were forced to take missions outside the village."

"Except I'm not a genin and I'm the only family Naruto has."

"He has me, too." Obito reminded her, voice suddenly subdued. Fū glanced over at him, he looked away, feigning interest in the pattering of rain against the living room window. "In case you forgot."

"Yes. He has you, too." She let a bit of the tension out of her shoulders and smiled at him, glad to hear him acknowledge his bond with Naruto. It was about time he realized that the bright little boy had wormed his way into his heart. "I didn't forget."

'And Kakashi. But now's not the time to bring him into this,' Fū thought. She was pretty sure Obito was nowhere near ready to talk about Kakashi.

But she hoped that, maybe someday, the two would be able to reunite and sort through their issues. Perhaps even be friends again. (They'd probably beat each other half to death first.)

"Why does Pain want to send me out with Sasori?" Fū asked, trying to move the conversation along. Then she paused and thought about it a second. She pulled plates out of the cupboard near the sink. "You know what, nevermind. Don't tell me. Let's eat, and then I'll go talk to him myself."

"-Fū." Obito sighed heavily, rolling his eye as she dished the food onto the plates with a large spoon. "He says you need experience and a mid-range teacher who can teach you avoidance better than Konan or I could."

Fū sat down to eat without responding and ignored Obito's concerned glances while he shoveled spoonfuls of food into his own mouth.

Pain was right, of course. Damn him. Front line wasn't for her. Hell, combat in general wasn't really for her. She didn't want to fight other people in the first place, not physically anyway. She'd never been built that way. That was probably half the reason she wasn't doing well in her training.

Avoidance was a skill she needed to learn. If she could avoid the enemy she could trap them by littering the terrain with seals of all kinds to win the fight.

Who better to teach her how to avoid things than the puppet master-turned-puppet who could control things from a distance with nothing but strings of chakra in his fingertips?

"I want to talk to Nagato. Not Pain. Alone."

Obito glanced at her sharply. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Trust me." Fū asked him, holding the last of her chicken between her chopsticks, watching the slice like it had all the answers. "Let me talk to him."

#

Obito had escorted her into the bowels of the building, base level – just two floors up from where Orochimaru would study her – and had, at her request, abandoned her in front of an unassuming door.

His parting words had been; "Don't blame me if he throws you out. Be careful, Fū."

She'd taken a minute to collect herself before laying a shaky hand on the door knob and twisting, knocking as she went. There was no need, of course, Nagato would already know she was there and that it had been 'Madara' who'd dropped her off.

"Hello?"

Much like everywhere in Ame, the cool gray steel of the buildings made for a cold and dismal atmosphere even inside, safe from the continual downpour, and Nagato's rooms were no different.

"You should not be here, Uzumaki-san," a soft voice called from within the room. "Leave."

Fū continued into the room, eyes adjusting to the darkness. The only light was a thin, horizontal window and the darkness of the late afternoon coupled with the stormy weather didn't do much to illuminate anything.

But she could see the outline of Nagato, held up by the poles in his back and the controls he used for the six paths. He didn't look as emaciated as he had when Naruto confronted him in the show, but he was well on his way.

"I asked to meet the real Pain-sama," Fū ignored his order, lowering herself to sit cross legged on the floor in front of Nagato as soon as she'd gotten close enough. It was audacious, she knew. It wouldn't take much for him to repel her from the room with force, or kill her for the insolence. But she didn't believe he would. Nagato wasn't evil – wasn't cruel. Just like Obito wasn't. "Tobi-nii obliged. I'm sorry if that upsets you."

He said nothing, and a flash of lightning stretched bright blue light over the room through the small slit. It was enough to make Nagato appear just as threatening as he truly was, suddenly backlit by nature's wrath.

"Wow." Fū clung to the one detail that the flash of light had highlighted. "That's a particular shade of red hair. You wouldn't happen to be Uzumaki, would you?"

Her purpose in coming here was to try and lay the foundations of a relationship with Nagato. The real one, not the avatar he preferred to walk around in. Fū didn't think Nagato was irredeemable. Really, she didn't think any of the characters besides Danzo himself were beyond redemption. Nagato, like Obito, was a product of grave circumstances.

It's up to each individual to decide how to proceed in their life when encountering cruel reality. It's difficult enough to do… but these people had been manipulated by forces far beyond their understanding.

She felt terrible, knowing what had happened to Yahiko. The cruelty of a young, inspiring, leader who aspired towards peace and civility… throwing himself on his own friend's blade to save another.

That was the kind of trauma that haunted the survivor.

And it twisted Fū's gut to know that Obito had orchestrated it that way so that Nagato could feel the same pain he did when Rin impaled herself on Kakashi's chidori.

Even still, with all the years of struggle and sorrow and toiling for the single-purpose of creating peace and bringing justice, in the end, Nagato was able to be reasoned with. A conversation with Naruto changed that long-set and hardened view that Nagato had formed and the elder had given his own life to bring back the citizens of Konoha after the Edo Tensei.

He'd done so, entrusting the future to Naruto.

That was the Nagato that Fū aspired to build a relationship with going forward.

Again, Nagato did not respond.

"I've come to ask you something," Fū continued on after a few more moments of silence. Fingers brushing against the grit on the concrete floor to keep her grounded while she cut to the chase. Nagato didn't seem like he wanted to humor her personal question. "What kind of future are you working to manifest? What does peace look like to you?"

Again, there was silence. It stretched long enough that the lightning had flashed three times before Nagato, slow but confident, began to speak.

"I strive for a world free of conflict, where injustice is dealt with without compelling a need for vengeance that perpetuates the cycle of hatred. Where food is plentiful, wars are not waged for the elite to gain whilst destroying the poor in the process and suffering is but a distant memory."

"I see," Fū nodded, brow furrowed as she raised her hand to brush her fingers together against the grit that had attached to it from the dirty floor. "Have you heard of the concept of 'utopia,' Pain-sama?"

He did not answer, so she continued.

"A utopia is an imagined place or state of things in which everything is perfect. A place of ideal perfection especially in laws, government, and social conditions. That is what you describe, and it is impossible." She knew this would make him angry, so she hastened to continue. "Such a thing can be created, but it cannot be maintained."

"It can be maintained through force," Nagato insisted.

"Peace through fear is not the way," Taifū refuted without pause. "Because that is not truly peace, it is a time bomb waiting for a chance to explode. That route is how you spark a rebellion, which will inevitably become a war."

"Then what would you suggest, Uzumaki-san?" Nagato asked, his tone even. It was strange hearing him in his own voice instead of Yahiko's. "What would be the way forward; how can peace be established without the threat of force to encourage people to fall in line."

"Establishing a proper peace is a long, hard road to walk," Fū told him, folding her hands in her lap. She looked him in the eye, or she hoped she was. She could hardly see. "I didn't get to fully explain myself in the meeting the other day. To reiterate; peace is not won on the battlefield. It's negotiated. In order to negotiate, one must have something to bring to the table. Even still, peace is only ever tentative. Fragile. It takes work to maintain it once established."

"You did not answer my question," Nagato chided, but there wasn't an impatience in his voice so she supposed he was just reminding her to get on with it.

He knew her well, by now. Sometimes she needed derailing, otherwise she'd remain on a tangent and forget to get to the point.

"Sorry," Fū felt her cheeks heat. Simply, she stated; "The people."

"The people, what?" Nagato prompted her to continue.

"Shinobi and Civilians alike are locked in the cycle of hatred you often speak of… but it's not hatred at all, it's fear. In order to bring about peace, you must treat the cause of the violence and injustices, not the symptoms. That's why I suggested the Akatsuki begin rendering unprompted aid to the small, weak villages. Because that gives the people hope. Hope, Pain-sama, is the ultimate motivator, it will manage what fear lacks."

"What would that be?"

"When you inspire hope among the hopeless it sparks revolution, Pain-sama." Fū implored, a smile pulling at the corners of her mouth, thinking about her past life and the world she'd lived in. The revered leaders she'd been inspired by. Her smile didn't even falter when she briefly thought about the darkness of that world. "You need the people's consent and involvement if you ever hope to create a lasting change in a violent world ruled by the powerful."

"That would lead to an inevitable conflict where people would sacrifice themselves in order to further such a goal," Nagato rightly stated, his voice contemplative – not scornful.

'We the People,' Fū thought, emotion stinging her throat. Quietly, she said; "People are the pieces of peace. When we are separated, by culture, creed, nationality or whatever, there is but war - when we come together, lo and behold, there is peace.*"

Nagato was silent for some time, and Fū had said everything she'd come to say to him. Now she was waiting in bated breath for his response.

To her surprise, when Nagato spoke again, it was to release a single laugh.

"This is why you cannot stay trapped within Ame," Nagato told her, a soft fondness in his voice that hadn't been there before. "The world needs to hear you speak."

That twisted her gut and made her feel weak. The shock Nagato's words ran through her system nearly made her fall over. If she hadn't already been sitting on the floor, she might have.

The world used to hear her speak. Millions of people, every night for three years after she'd returned home from five years of field reporting in the Middle East. It hadn't mattered at all in the end.

"I'm nobody," Fū insisted, looking at the floor and drawing Uzumaki clan symbols in the dust, "But I believe we can do better to establish the world that you want. It's just going to take a reconfiguring of your current tactic." Her head snapped up, a grin spreading suddenly on her face as a thought bloomed. "Does Sasori-san know you want to send me out with him?"

"Not yet," Nagato admitted, "but he will be informed. I was going to meet with you in the morning, but I suppose now is an appropriate time to discuss your mission."

Fū's brow rose and she tilted her head, curious. "Yes, Pain-sama?"

"You are to learn what you can from Akasuna no Sasori, gain his respect, and in doing so gain access to his spy network when he has decided to trust you enough to allow you into such meetings. Those are the goals that Sasori will know that I have given you. However, I would like to add to this."

Fū rose to take a knee, suspecting that he was expecting her to respect his status during this portion of the meeting.

Nagato continued on with a long winded explanation, Fū remained silent and listening throughout.

"Study and grow your skill in fūinjutsu. Find a way to make your theoretical protective seal network a reality. Help people every chance you get, wherever you are, so long as helping them does not increase your chances of death. Make a name for yourself without drawing too much attention to the Akatsuki. Those are your goals. In the meantime, I will work to strengthen our diplomatic relationships with the smaller nations, and discuss with Tobi how to proceed in redistributing the Akatsuki's efforts to aid the small villages and focus on the people, rather than undermining the greater villages."

So Nagato wanted to proceed with her plan, after all!

Fū did an internal victory dance.

"As you wish, Pain-sama."

"Nagato," he said, and she was stricken with the trust he'd just placed in her by giving her his real name. "In this room, when no one else is around, I am simply Uzumaki Nagato. I would like you to promise me something, Uzumaki Fū," he addressed her the way she'd introduced herself officially to the Akatsuki and she respected that he'd done so. Especially after ousting himself as an Uzumaki and answering her earlier question.

She glanced up, eying him warily.

"Keep to your ideals," Nagato demanded of her. "Do not allow the world to reshape you into a bitter, angrier version of yourself and always strive towards the goal of establishing a peace that can be maintained."

Fū's answer was slow. Sincerely spoken. Like a promise.

"Give me time and I'll give you a revolution, Nagato-sama.*"

#

Kakashi had looked behind him as the gates to Amegakure slammed shut.

He'd seen Fū, and that was enough to make him wish to stay exactly where he was until he could find a way to extract her, but his Root comrades were adamant that they would follow Danzō's orders exactly.

Still, he couldn't help the way his heart sunk into his stomach as he followed his team out of the sight of the city and through the forest – toward home.

A week later, Uchiha Itachi delivered a paper crane and left without saying anything other than to recommend that he unfold it when alone.

The boy was… strange, in a way, but Kakashi thought he was a good kid so he did as instructed.

His eye widened when a few strands of long crimson hair fell out as he pulled the crane apart carefully. He stopped, picking up the strands and holding them close to his nose. The scent was faint, but the hair undoubtedly belonged to Taifū – he knew because he'd recently encountered it once again and he wasn't going to allow himself to ever forget it.

Fingers trembling against his will, he continued to unwrap the paper crane. He paused only to raise his forehead protector so that he could copy the note with the sharingan. That way when he burned it, he would forever be able to recall it.

'Safe. Miss you. Don't come for me; trying to save the world. Will contact you when I can.'

Kakashi lit the note on fire and sunk into his couch, wondering what the hell she meant by 'trying to save the world.'

Minato-sensei, what has your daughter gotten into?

And what was Kakashi going to have to do in order to protect her?