Chapter 188 - 186: The Lively Senju Compound

"Hokage-sama." Sakumo knelt in front of her before she'd finished her first cup of tea.

Azula sighed. "Why do you have to be so formal when it's just us?"

He'd been her Jōnin leader once. More than that, he was one of the few people in the village she actually trusted.

"Well." Sakumo scratched the back of his head, a habit he'd never quite shaken from his Jōnin days. "Something happened."

"Oh?" Azula raised an eyebrow. She'd given Sakumo orders less than twelve hours ago. If he was already reporting, something had either gone very right or very wrong.

"Hisashi committed suicide last night." He looked at Azula. "His body was collected by the ANBU."

"He beat me to it." Azula's expression hovered somewhere between irritation and reluctant acknowledgment.

Sakumo's mouth twitched. Of course this was Azula. She always found the one angle no one else would think of, usually the one that made people uncomfortable.

"What do you think?" Azula asked. "About his suicide."

Sakumo paused, Azula didn't usually ask for opinions, she only looked at the results.

Sakumo considered the question. He'd felt something, when the report came in but he wasn't sure what to call it.

"At first, I thought it was cowardly." Sakumo's voice was even. "A shinobi should face what's coming. But after reading his message..."

He paused. "I think it wasn't a bad death. For him."

Sakumo didn't recite the message, he handed Azula a file instead. It contained everything: Hiroshi's visit, their conversation, the moment of death. All of it, reduced to ink and paper.

Azula flipped through the file. Then she remembered: high-ranking prisoners, under the old laws, were sometimes permitted seppuku. A final dignity, if they had the nerve to take it.

The ANBU had made a choice, not the one she would have made. She closed the file, her fingers tapped once against the cover.

"It'll be the last time." Azula set the file aside. "No more suicides in my prison. If another prisoner dies by their own hand, I'll question whether the ANBU has a reason to exist at all."

Sakumo knew she meant every word.

"Alright." His voice was steady, he'd make sure of it.

Azula nodded, before remembering Mito's words from the night before. Then, as if Hisashi's death had already been filed away. "There's an Uzumaki delegation arriving today, you know the procedure."

"...You know the procedure." Sakumo nodded, already rising to leave.

•••

•••

An hour later, the Uzumaki delegation arrived at Konoha's gates while the morning sun was still low.

"I'm finally going to see Azula-nee and Tsunade-nee again!" Asuka's face had gone the exact shade of her hair. "Do you guys think my poem will move them this time?"

The Uzumaki exchanged glances, one of them sighed. They'd all heard the poem, multiple of them, and this one was apparently new.

"Azula-nee is the Hokage now." Kushina was right behind Asuka, her voice full of the same eagerness but aimed somewhere slightly different. "Does that mean if I get as strong as them, I could be Hokage too? One day?"

Karuku set his hand on Kushina's head. "Who can say? Konoha's new generation is strong. I've heard Fugaku and Nawaki are no pushovers, and that's just the ones your age. The village is full of monsters."

"If you want to be Hokage, you'll have to work harder than anyone." He said it like he believed it was possible.

The ANBU stationed at the gate nearly broke cover. 'Just work hard? Become Hokage?'

These outsiders were talking about the village's highest seat like it was a promotion you got for perfect attendance.

The gate guard, who had pretended to be blind for Nawaki and Fugaku, now pretended to be deaf for the Uzumaki. It was becoming a useful skill.

He kept his head down and focused on the paperwork.

"Take these." He distributed the tags, twelve of them, one for each visitor. "These let you stay as long as you need. If you decide to settle permanently, you'll apply for a permanent ID."

The Uzumaki examined the tags with open curiosity. Back home, security was simpler: a guard checked your chakra at the gate, confirmed you weren't a spy, and waved you through. What kind of paperwork and tags? Just trust and chakra sensing.

'Thanks." Karuku pocketed his tag and gestured for the group to follow. The village opened up before them, streets still quiet in the early light.

The older Uzumaki knew Konoha well. Some of them had walked these streets before Kushina was born. They didn't need a guide.

Kushina and Asuka, though, had never been here before. Everything was new and worth pointing out.

"Look at that building! The one with the green leaf in the circle!" Asuka grabbed Kushina's arm. "That's the hospital, it's huge. If I'm going to be the greatest healer in the world, I'm going to work there someday."

"You want to be a healer?" Kushina's eyebrows shot up. "You, the person who destroyed three training buildings testing that weird Jutsu. You want to heal people?"

"Obviously." Asuka said it like it was the most natural thing in the world. "Tsunade-nee killed a Mizukage, Azula-nee is the strongest person alive. And they're both the best healers in the world. Why wouldn't I follow their path?"

Kushina considered this. The logic was sound. Also, if Asuka was going to become a great healer, Kushina couldn't afford to fall behind. "Maybe I should become a doctor too."

They passed the bookstore, the manga shop, the anime theater—Kushina slowed at that one—and the Academy, before finally reaching the Senju compound.

The tour was over. Now came the real reason they were here: greeting Mito. Everything else like the hospital, the shops, the Academy could wait.

"Yo, Karuku!" A red-haired man waved from across the courtyard. Karuku's cousin, by the look of him, or maybe an old friend, with Uzumaki, the distinction was often blurry. "You made better time than we expected."

Before Karuku could answer, the man cupped his hands around his mouth. "Everyone! Karuku's here! They're already here!"

"What?" An elderly woman emerged from the nearest house, wiping her hands on a cloth. "I was still preparing the welcome meal!"

"How did they travel so fast?" a younger man called from a window.

"Look at Kushina and Asuka!" A teenage girl was already pointing. "They're so cute!"

Doors slid open. People poured out of houses, many with the Uzumaki red, but most had different hair, which were from the Senju. Within moments, the courtyard had filled.

Karuku took a breath. He was an elder, a young one, but still an elder. He had to maintain some dignity, even as his relatives swarmed them like they'd returned from a war.

"We just arrived, these two couldn't wait." Karuku gestured at Asuka and Kushina, smoothly redirecting the swarm. 'Sorry,' he thought, not sorry at all.

It took them several minutes to escape. The relatives pinched their cheeks, ruffled their hair, asked if they'd grown taller, asked if they were eating enough, asked if they had suitors yet, Asuka's face went scarlet at that one.

By the time they reached the main house, both girls looked like they'd survived a battlefield.

The main house was impossible to miss. Hashirama's tree towered over it, the biggest in the village, its branches casting shade across the entire courtyard.

Mito was waiting for them outside. She stood beneath the great tree, one hand resting on her cane.

Tsunade stood at her right, arms crossed, looking like she'd rather be inside reading a Manga. Azula stood at her left, perfectly still, as if she'd been standing there for hours and could stand there for hours more. The two of them flanked Mito like guardians, or perhaps like heirs.

The delegation stopped at the gate. Karuku bowed first, deep and formal, the elders followed, the younger shinobi, and then, after a beat, Asuka and Kushina dipped their heads too, less practiced but no less sincere.

"Mito-sama, Tsunade-sama, Azula-sama." Karuku's voice was steady, these three names had saved his people. He would never say them lightly.

Mito smiled, the corners of her eyes crinkling. "You came faster than I expected. I was going to have breakfast ready."

"You know we can't resist your cooking!" one of the elders called out. Mito laughed at it.

Azula looked mildly pleased.

"You have good taste, Mito-sensei's cooking is excellent." A pause. "Only slightly below mine."

Mito raised an eyebrow. "Only slightly?"

"I'm being generous."

Asuka, who hadn't said a word since they'd entered the compound, stepped forward. Her hands were shaking.

Her face was red, but not from excitement. This was the deep, burning flush of someone standing before her two idols and the strongest of the clan all at once.

She'd been preparing for this moment for weeks, months, her whole life, maybe.

"M-Mito-sama, Tsunade-nee, Azula-nee." She bowed again, deeper than before, as if the first bow hadn't counted. "I... I wrote a poem. To express my gratitude for everything you did for Uzushio. And for me. And for—"

She stopped. Whatever came next had fled her brain entirely.

Mito's expression softened. "Take your time, child."

Asuka breathed though It didn't help much. She reached into her robes and pulled out a scroll, worn at the edges from being unfolded too many times. She'd practiced this, she could do this.

She began to read.

_Ode to the Saviors of Uzushio_

_By Asuka of the Uzumaki Clan_

_Oh great Tsunade-nee, your fists are like the thunder,_

_Your strength is like a typhoon, but also full of wonder._

_You killed the Mizukage, which was very cool,_

_And also you can heal people, which is useful as a rule._

_Oh wise Azula-nee, your mind is like an owl,_

_Your eyes are red and spinny, they make your enemies howl._

_You saved our home from ruin, you stood before the wave,_

_You are the Fourth Hokage, and also very brave._

_Together you are heroes, the greatest ever seen,_

_Tsunade is the strongest, Azula is the keen._

_You fight and heal and lead and win and never ever fail,_

_You are my inspiration, like a very awesome whale._

_Heroes! (pause for effect)_

_Heroes! (louder)_

_HEROES! (with feeling)_

_I want to be just like you when I am fully grown,_

_To heal the sick and punch the wicked and sit upon the throne._

_So please accept this poem, I wrote it with my heart,_

_I know it's not the greatest, but it's a pretty decent start._

_The end._

_Thank you for listening._

_Asuka of the Uzumaki Clan, aspiring healer, future disciple, very sorry about the fountain_

When she finished, the silence was absolute. Even the birds had stopped.

Azula let the silence breathe for a moment longer. Then: "That was the worst poem I have ever heard."

Asuka's face crumpled. Azula waited exactly long enough for the devastation to register. "I expect you to improve. Bring me a better one next time."

The crumpled face blossomed into something radiant. "I will! I promise! I've already been practicing my calligraphy, and my metaphor work, and I've been reading the old Uzushio epics for inspiration, and—"

Tsunade cut her off before she could list her entire training regimen.

"Later," Tsunade said. "Let Grandmother sit down before you give her a heart attack."

"I'm not that fragile," Mito murmured, but she was smiling.

"Oh! Of course! I'm sorry!" Asuka bowed three times in rapid succession, each one faster than the last. Kushina covered her mouth, she was definitely laughing.

She would deny it later.

The door behind them slid open. Nawaki stumbled out.

His hair was a disaster, his clothes half-on and misbuttoned. He'd been asleep roughly fifteen seconds ago.

He squinted at the gathered crowd with the blank, uncomprehending expression of someone whose brain hadn't caught up to his body. "What's going on? Who brought a cow? I heard mooing like a cow being strangled. Is there a cow? Why is there a cow in the house?"

Asuka's face went through several distinct emotional stages: Confusion, realization, horror, finally fury.

Each one flickered across her expression like clouds racing across the sun, except the sun was her dignity, and the clouds were Nawaki's impending doom.

"Did you," Asuka said, her voice eerily level, "just compare my poem to a cow being strangled?"

Her eyes twitched just once.

Nawaki blinked, somewhere in his sleep-addled brain, alarm bells were ringing, they just hadn't reached him yet.

"Was that a poem? I thought—" He looked around the courtyard, desperate for someone to explain what was happening.

Mito's smile was serene and utterly useless, Tsunade watched with the detached interest of someone observing a nature documentary, Azula's eyes glinted with quiet amusement, Kushina was practically vibrating with glee and the dozen Uzumaki relatives had formed a silent, unanimous pact not to intervene.

"I thought there was a cow," he finished, his voice very small.

"There is no cow," Asuka's voice could have frozen water.

"I'm getting that now."

"I have been working on that poem for three weeks."

"It was... very... loud?" Nawaki tried. "In a good way? Cows are... majestic?"

"For the record," Azula said, watching Nawaki dig his grave deeper with every word, "I'm staying out of this one."

"You're the Hokage," Tsunade said. "Isn't domestic disputes your jurisdiction?"

"I said I'm staying out of it. I didn't say I wasn't enjoying it."

(END OF THE CHAPTER)

Yeah, next chapter, I'll be back to Azula's 3rd limited POV