Chapter Text
ANBU Cat arrived with whisper-soft footfalls. The sound was enough to pull the Hidden Leaf’s Third Hokage from his work with a curious twist to his expression, like he’d bitten into a sour lemon, or, actually heard ANBU footsteps for once.
“You’re supposed to be off that leg,” Hiruzen said in lieu of any meaningless ritual conversation, for which Tenzou was equally pleased and embarrassed.
“I would've had to hop.”
Hiruzen gave an amused smile in response, and Tenzou lifted his mask so the Hokage could see his own sheepish one. Being under what amounted to house arrest had been a jarring change in pace from living life in the walls of enemy territory where the wrong move could mean life or death. The experience had given Tenzou (far too much) time to reflect on the actions that led up to his perceived punishment of a few months’ bedrest, ample time to organize a heartfelt plea against the remaining days he had originally been ordered to stay bedbound.
“No.”
The dismissal cut him off before the words ever left his mouth. Tenzou blinked, startled, and tried again.
“Hokage-sama, I’m well enough to manage this much. At least it could be less than a few month--”
Hiruzen put his hand up in a silencing gesture, to which Tenzou immediately complied. “With how much healing you have left to do? With the way you thundered in here loud enough to be heard from Stone Country, and you want me to take you off bed rest?”
Tenzou swallowed and rubbed the back of his neck.
“...I wasn’t that loud--”
He quickly stopped as the Hokage looked up sharply in annoyance from his desk.
“--but, perhaps I was too hasty?”
Hiruzen squinted at Tenzou, as though he could tell he was favoring one leg over the other, as though he knew just how many extra doses of his painkiller he’d taken that morning just to get the strength to make this request. A sinking feeling filled his spirit the longer those accusing eyes were upon him. How did he know?
Reluctantly, Tenzou lowered his gaze.
“You’re right, Lord Third. I apologize.”
Hiruzen squinted at him as he chewed on the end of his pipe. Without speaking he drew up a scroll from his desk, one tied with a vibrant blue ribbon that caught Tenzou’s attention. He accepted it curiously all the while under his leader’s scrutinizing gaze.
“What’s this?” He asked.
“Mission details,” Hiruzen replied. “If you’re itching for something to do, I may have something for you that will suit both our needs.”
Tenzou looked up from the scroll with his eyebrows drawn together in confusion. This wasn’t what he expected after being chewed out by his boss. Yet eagerness at the prospect of having something to do rather than waste away in his tiny apartment eventually made him untie the ribbon. It fluttered to the side, along with a photo Tenzou snatched before it drifted to the floor. At least now he wouldn’t have to suffer the humiliation of slowly bending down to grab it as Hiruzen watched.
Wide green eyes stared back at Tenzou from the photograph. A little girl, he observed, taking in her other features. Pink hair laid flat against her face and round forehead. Upon closer inspection, he noted that it was soaking wet, water making the strands cling to her cheeks tightly. She couldn’t have been a day older than seven.
A first glance at the document containing her information revealed little more than her name (Sakura, blank for the last), birthday (March 28), and blood type (O). Strange. If this child was a person of interest for a mission, there would have been more than a Post-It note worth of personal information on her. Intrigued, Tenzou continued onto the mission details.
And promptly wished he hadn’t removed his Cat mask as he read on further.
“Babysitting duty?” He found himself saying before his mind could put a stop to it. “An S-ranked babysitting mission?”
If Hiruzen was taken aback by his outburst, he did not show it. Instead, he tipped the ash out of his pipe into an awaiting tray before answering.
“Read on and you’ll see why.”
Tenzou did just that, eyes scanning the scroll furiously for clues. If the village’s very own Jinkuriki didn’t get his own ANBU nanny, he had a hard time believing some no-name child would.
The second to last page revealed a typical blood work up, reading to the letter as normal as possible until the last line. The name lept off the page to his eyes: Orochimaru.
Shock went through him like electricity.
“That’s…”
Impossible, he wanted to say, in spite of the official medical report. Orochimaru had no children, not of his own flesh and blood. It was one of the many things he’d gathered from his hazy years spent drifting between consciousness and uncertainty. Tenzou would never forget the quiet laments of a thwarted genius: Orochimaru was infertile.
Even so, he did the math in his head as the Hokage took a deep pull from his pipe. Smoke furled out into the room, clouding his senses as his mind stopped on a number and a wicked suggestion.
It was just enough time, the lapse since he’d been rescued out from under Danzo’s influence--
“She is not his daughter.”
The words cut through the fog in the room and his mind. Tenzou looked up, feeling sweat on the back of his neck, and swallowed thickly. A slow deep breath lowered his heart rate. He ordered his thoughts and agreed.
“No. She couldn’t be.”
The Lord Third nodded morosely.
“Despite his many medical jutsu, Orochimaru never conceived a way to birth a child of his own… which is why it intrigues me. The girl,” Sarutobi clarified, gesturing to the mission scroll with his pipe, “My most trusted medics are convinced that something links them. Either by blood or by ancestry, Orochimaru is the closest thing she has to family.”
A shiver went down Tenzou’s spine in sympathy.
Hiruzen nodded.
“It is obvious that sending her to live with Orochimaru is out of the question. Therefore, since you are the calibre of shinobi required to provide her adequate protection--”
Tenzou protested indignantly.
“To monitor a child, full time?! Surely a chunin would suffice--”
“You would trust a child with Orochimaru’s blood to a chunin?”
The younger man’s protests died behind clenched teeth.
While Tenzou felt his concerns were justified, Hiruzen brought up a good point. A chunin might be adequate protection detail for a civilian, or even a shinobi’s child, but according to the chart this was no ordinary girl.
Something about her was different. Special. Even if it was just a distant connection, any connection to Orochimaru was bound to be used against her, and Orochimaru had made himself plenty of powerful enemies just itching to find the perfect leverage against him.
Smoke and silence filled the air between the Hokage and his ANBU.
He wanted to say no. Days of babysitting duty? With a little girl? His last mission had been gritty and tested his endurance, proved his tenacity, and showed his teammates just how essential Tenzou could be as part of the ANBU collaborative ops. Jumping from that to managing a kid, alone, judging from the high level of security clearance required to even know what his mission was about, would be… quite the change of pace.
Then again, apparently she was related to Orochimaru. She was only seven years old, with no one to rely on, no one to protect her. And out of every shinobi in the village, Tenzou was probably one of the very few who could relate to her ordeal. His shoulders unwound, tension bleeding from his body as he made his decision.
“She can’t call me Cat.”
“No,” Hiruzen agreed around his pipe with a sly smile, “No, she can’t. What shall she call you, then? Hmm?”
Tenzou paused. In his admittedly short life, he had been known by three names. Cat was what he heard in his everyday life, Tenzou was a private name known only by his closest friends. And Kinoe….
Kinoe was off-limits.
The Hokage must have grown impatient with his musings, for he suddenly suggested, "would Yamato suffice?"
Yamato. An old name, a slight nod to his Senju connection. Tenzou tried it.
"Yamato." It rolled off his tongue easily enough. "Yamato will work."
The Lord Third nodded and stood to his full height, pipe in hand.
“Then go. You have the details. Regular reports are due weekly. Until further notice, she is your top priority. You are relieved of any accessory ANBU duties pending the successful completion of this mission. A stipend for her expenses will be added to your pay. Any questions?”
Tenzou only had one question, one he had since he read the name Orochimaru on the scroll.
"Where did you end up putting her?"
~ ~ ~
Surprisingly, there was no protocol on proper apprehension measures for distant relatives of a rogue Sannin who's age didn't even break double digits.
Luckily, the T&I department was known for their improvisational skills.
Tenzou was given enough time to change out of his ANBU gear into a more casual jounin outfit. When he arrived as newly-minted Yamato, the Head of the Analysis Team and Yamanaka clan, Inoichi, was waiting for him. He briefly glanced at the crutch Hiruzen insisted he leave his office with, but ultimately said nothing. Instead, he started down the winding hallways. Tenzou limped after him.
"Besides the blood connection, everything else about her is normal." Tenzou released a sigh of relief as Inoichi walked past the interrogation rooms and dirty jail cells. If nothing else, there was a chance he would be dealing with a less traumatized child now. "No strange chakra readings, no kekki genkai we could find, answered all our questions, complied with our orders. She even remembered her manners, which is more than what I can say for my daughter."
Thankfully, Inoichi had stopped in front of a door before Tenzou was forced to partake in the painful ordeal of having to ask about a coworker's family. A brief look around eased his nerves when he realized where they were. This section of the T&I department was where the more compliant prisoners were held, therefore, better accommodations. Uncomfortable still, but better.
The stern look didn't leave Inoichi's face. "Of course, she could be acting exactly as Orochimaru wanted her to."
The implication behind those words said everything. This girl, Sakura as Tenzou would have to start calling her from now on, held a world of dangerous possibilities through her bloodline alone. As young as she was, there was still the chance she was a spy for the Sannin or even a sleeper agent, ready to strike when their defenses were lowered.
Tenzou had already screwed up once as an ANBU agent. He wouldn't do so again, even for a child's sake.
"Thank you, Inoichi-san. She will be closely monitored under my watch."
Sweeter words couldn't have been to an interrogator shinobi. Solemnly, the blonde man nodded and proceeded to pull out a ring of keys from his belt. The fact that he was able to locate the correct key for the door on his first try spoke of Inoichi's skill and talent.
"She's all yours." Inoichi announced, letting the door creak open slightly. "She had nothing but the clothes on her back when she came here, so no need to gather her personal belongings."
Tenzou acknowledged this with a nod, then he stepped in.
Inside the cell was a girl matching the description on the mission scroll. Straight, pink hair. Haunting green eyes. Six or seven, if he had to guess. She also looked bored out of her mind, but Tenzou would take that over her being scared or alarmed.
She sat on a bed, the only piece of furniture provided in her cell, looking up as he entered.
Their eyes met.
Nothing in particular happened. Tenzou had half expected to be gripped with some kind of emotion upon coming face to face with this child affiliated with his former captor, but instead he found himself staring back at what appeared to be an ordinary kid. She watched him expectantly with those seeking green eyes. Some more seconds passed before he realized that he would have to speak first.
“My name is Yamato,” he said, trying out the name the Lord Third had given him. Tenzou… Yamato managed to go on without too much of a pause. “You’ll be living under my care for the time being.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Yamato-sama.”
“Please, just Yamato,” he hastily corrected. While not excessively polite, Lord Yamato was bound to get him strange looks from people on the streets. “What can I call you?”
“My name’s Sakura. Just Sakura.”
He extended a hand. The little girl took her time getting up, cautious in the way all children were of any stranger, and after several slow steps came up and took the offered hand. It struck him just how small her fingers were against his, and how warm the heat of her palm. Little fingers curled in his grip.
Just her hand fitting in his stole all of Tenzou’s attention. Normally his senses stretched out to cover the perimeter, only how could he focus on anything else? The world seemed to melt away around them as he considered the little human blinking up at him. Those eyes didn’t seem so haunting up close. They even had a sparkle to them, a shine of curiosity as Sakura craned her neck a bit in order to look up at him.
Inoichi eventually cleared his throat.
“Be seeing you,” he said after Yamato recovered from the brief startle. They made their goodbyes brief and departed into the cool night air.
Sakura followed along where he went. She was independent enough that after a few blocks she snuck her hand out of Yamato’s grip, though she kept close enough that a single misstep would have them collide. It was an interesting contrast. Sakura seemed determined to walk without holding Yamato’s hand yet kept right in step with him, nearly in his shadow.
The thought wasn’t novel enough to distract Yamato from recognizing that her footsteps were just as silent as his own. He filed that observation away for scrutiny under the morning’s first light as they approached his apartment.
“The kitchen is here,” Yamato said, introducing Sakura to his living space. She nodded in understanding as he showed her the bathroom, bedroom, and where the laundry was. It was pure luck that the night before he’d deactivated the traps that normally littered his abode for something to do, anything to cure his bed-rest boredom. He had a feeling that those traps would need extremely careful reconstruction around a seven year old.
Sakura’s eyes began to droop, and Yamato realized how late it was.
“Ah. This way.”
He took her to the main room and within minutes had a reasonable bed-shaped space laid out. A bachelor had no need for a spare futon, but Yamato had enough blankets and pillows to create a suitable replacement.
“We’ll go shopping in the morning for a proper bed,” he murmured in apology. They would have to go for many things tomorrow. She didn't even have a spare shirt to change into for the night. “I hope this will be alright for tonight.”
Sakura rubbed her eyes, nodding as she clamored onto the prepared surface. It was endearing to watch, even to someone with no prior fondness for children. The way she burrowed into the bundle, half-asleep already, one leg thrown over a pillow as she drew the covers around herself was adorable.
Yamato left her for a few minutes to let her settle in. When he returned with a cup of water, it was to the soft rise-and-fall pattern of someone in a deep sleep. He watched her from afar for a few moments more before turning in for the night.
Tomorrow marked the start of his new life.