2 short stories set in AIC

I put an extremely sophisticated chart in the chaos fiends discord chat three days ago, so that potential stories could be suggested from the format “Aiko (kidnaps)(is kidnapped by) (accidentally proposes to) [Hinata] [C] [Gai] and (a very large amount of money) (a religiously significant bird) (a monument to somebody we hate) is involved. 

• (I’m looking to do something similar with the other discord chat this week, so if you have inspiration and want to make your own chart prompt for me to pick from, please feel free)

Here are the two short stories that came out of this. I’m only going to label them with the character who was chosen for the prompt so as not to spoil the entire premise.

And we can consider both of these canon, actually, that have either yet to happen in AIC or occurred off screen because Aiko didn’t consider them particularly important events.

1. Hinata 

“I can’t believe that worked,” Kiba said, horrified.

“I’m so sorry,” Hinata said. 

“No, no.” There was the sound of reassuring patting. “Thank you for kidnapping her.”

“We merely assumed it would require the fullest efforts of our squad.” Shino sounded that little bit annoyed.

Fascinated, Aiko squeezed her eyes shut even further to fight down the questions.

“I saw an opportunity...” Hinata trailed off.

And that was true. Points to the girl for initiative. Aiko had been in an onsen, chapter 5 of a good book, and glass 4 of red wine when the Konoha girl had padded out of the changing room. She must have recognized Aiko from the back, just as Aiko had recognized Hinata’s scent and energy and paid her zero mind. 

“You’re sure you blocked all her chakra?” Kiba’s voice was a little high with nerves. There was the sound of rustling.

“Yes,” Hinata said, a little stiff.

Aiko resisted the urge to wiggle. Hinata had genuinely surprised her by coming up from behind and shutting down the first tenketsu in her shoulder. After that, Aiko had nearly backhanded the Genin through the glass wall to the showers in pure reflex.

She had instead mastered herself, thought, ‘This is going to be hilarious,’ and pretended to faint when her chakra was cut. 

Even nominally kidnapped by enemy shinobi and without access to her chakra, Aiko was approximately 0% worried and more utterly fascinated to know what had prompted such out of character behavior from little Hinata. Kidnapping was, as a rule, not Hinata’s style. She was also one of the least-likely people in Naruto’s friend group to potentially cause an international incident by attacking a foreign head of state, so her reasoning had to be good.

“I hate to be the voice of reason-“ 

“Then do not,” Shino cut Kiba off. “Why? Because we are already committed to the course of action. Additionally, it will be more expedient to bring the Mizukage to the temple than to persuade her to go.”

‘A temple? They want to take me to a temple?’ 

Aiko really wanted to ask questions or at least laugh, but she was still pretending to be unconscious. So she got no further information as someone grabbed her wrists and someone else grabbed her ankles.

‘Oh.’ She worked very hard not to grin. ‘This is the only way they can carry me.’

If she had any self respect whatsoever, she would shake them off, sit up, and sternly demand an explanation.

But she was a goblin, so Aiko went as unhelpfully limp as possible and let the Genin sway her from side to side as they carried her away from the hotel she had been staying at. 

It was dark out, so the air was cold on the parts of her that weren’t covered up by her bath yukata.

‘Oh, shit!’

Aiko’s heartrate picked up.

‘This is the hotel’s yukata. I need to bring it back before checkout time so they don’t charge me for it.’

She made a mental note and underlined it in red ink. 

“Oh, I’m glad you’re back.” 

There was a pause.

“Team,” Kurenai said, cautiously. “Is that... did you happen to find the Mizukage?” Her voice was a little strangled.

“Yes,” Kiba said, apparently committed to this now. “We have a plan!”

“Where did you find her?”

“Where? Hinata attacked her in the bathing facilities.” Shino shifted his grip on her ankles. “Why do you ask?” 

Aiko couldn’t help it. She really couldn’t. She let out a snicker at his matter-of-fact tone. 

Kiba yelped and promptly dropped her. 

She caught herself on her elbows and gave up pretending. She opened her eyes and arched her back, catlike, to peer up at the other woman. 

Kurenai’s eyes were shining red and startled in the moonlight. 

“Konoha-san,” Aiko drawled, “your children are adorable. I had to know what they were trying to do.” 

Shino very quietly said “excuse me,” and let go of her ankles.

“I am so sorry, Mizukage-sama,” Kurenai said, stepping in between Aiko and Hinata. She put a gentle hand on Kiba that was meant to herd him behind her as well, but he crossed his arms and frowned down at Aiko. 

“Hinata said she blocked your chakra,” he accused.

“She did,” Aiko acknowledged. “The first one was a genuine surprise, and then I decided it would be funnier to see what she wanted than to kill her.” She aimed a friendly smile at the girl. 

“My students are misguided-“

“What did you want?” Aiko said, waving a hand in a way that meant ‘never mind that.’ “I really want to know.” 

Kurenai looked despairing. “I had given them leeway to come up with a solution for our mission objective.” She gave Shino the tiredest look over Aiko’s head. “We were hired to get rid of... politically insensitive iconography post-haste, before the Daimyo’s guests make their hatsumode visit here.” 

Aiko cocked her head to the side. She thought about local history for a moment.

Ah. Tokugawa.

“We thought of a few ways to get rid of the statues, but a powerful water ninjitsu user seemed the most clear-cut.” Shino cleared his throat. “The statues overlook the lake, and the water could be used to hide any evidence of the statues. Rubble or upturned earth would indicate that something that had been hidden.” 

Kurenai was very clearly resisting the urge to soothe a migraine.

Aiko stood and gave a stretch, fingers interlaced behind her head. “You want me to destroy something and hide the evidence?” She checked.

“Accurate,” Shino confirmed.

She eyed them. That was within her capabilities and interests. “What will you give me to do that?” Aiko asked. “You’re...” She pursed her lips. “You’re all very small, so I assume you don’t have any money or luxury goods.” 

“We have no money,” Kiba cheerfully confirmed. “It’s stressful.”

She shook her arms and unblocked all the tenketsu. Hinata gave a small gasp as all her work was undone. 

“I’m an agent of chaos, so I’ll do it in exchange for...” she eyed them again. “I don’t know, your teacher has to take me dinner.”

“What?” said Kurenai.

“It is agreed!” Shino said.

“What?” Kurenai said again, quieter this time.

“Pick somewhere nice for dinner tomorrow,” Aiko said. She stretched her fingers and rolled her neck. “And naughty puppies, show me what I need to blow up.” 

“It would be preferable if you did not blow things up on temple grounds,” Shino said.

“I disagree,” Kiba said cheerfully. “This way, Mizukage-san.”

2. Gai

“I am very tired,” Hiruzen said pointedly. 

His bodyguards stopped their surreptitious thumb wrestling match and straightened their backs. Maito-kun scuffed his sandals on the floor.

“I would like for this meeting to be concluded as quickly as possible, and set a good tone for the future discussions.” He eyed the two young fools he had chosen to attend the summit with him. Kami help him, they were among his finest men and he was proud of them.... when they were not choosing to be ridiculous. 

He turned away to look out the window. They were meeting in the neutral ground of the much-diminished Sound Country. The only remaining authority was religious, devotees of Amaterasu. 

Another indirect failing of his, in all likelihood. Had Orochimaru taken advantage of a power vacuum, or had he caused it?

There was a whumpf as someone hit someone else. 

The door opened. He turned to face the priest with a pleasant expression and let the man guide them to the garden behind the main shrine building. It stretched upward, a path of off-white stones and moss winding between larger rocks and a pool that trickled down from a single spring. He contemplated it for a moment. The air was damp and heavy. The koi came up for air and food, optimistic. A bird called in the distance, a gentle series of chirrups that he didn’t recognize from Fire Country’s fauna.

The door behind them opened. He turned to see the Mizukage sashay in. Her reddish hair was long and a little wild down her back. Between her other worldly eyes and the pale, drawn look of her face, she seemed a bit... she seemed not quite human, and something about her put the hair up at the back of his neck. 

Of course, that could simply be because he knew she was a necromancer who had destroyed her own city and then rebuilt it with genetic gifts she should not possess.

He smiled at her. “Mizukage-sama, thank you for making the trip to the country of Sound to meet with me.” 

“The pleasure was mine,” she said. Her gaze darted over his two escorts in quick succession and then trailed up over the mountainside. “Traveling through a place like this is not a burden.” 

‘Did she come alone?’ 

Baffled, Hiruzen cast his senses out into the shrine at large. He didn’t detect any other shinobi. 

It was hardly the strangest thing he had known this woman to do, but it flustered him nonetheless. 

“Hokage-sama, I look forward to fruitful discussions that improve our working relationship.” She did not put much effort into her tone. The words were more factual than yearning. She was still looking up into the mountain. 

He bowed. That caught her attention, and she turned to reciprocate exactly correctly. 

Some of his advisors had the theory that she had been a child survivor of Uzushiogakure’s fall, living in the ruins for decades and falling out of touch with society.

Perhaps. Whatever wilderness has created her had been familiar with protocol, at least. 

“Honored guests.” The head priest shuffled out. “Before we begin any worldly matters, we should seek guidance and blessing.” 

Droll. He put on a diplomatic smile.

“Of course,” the Mizukage said. She seemed as if she might be sincere. Her tone and attention to the priest was certainly more respectful than she had ever given him, Hiruzen noted with amusement. Perhaps she had something of a diplomat in her after all, and she just did not deign to use it on him. “If Amaterasu will hear us, we’ll be victorious.” 

Everyone just looked at her. She seemed not to notice. 

It had sounded as if two voices were speaking at the same time. 

‘Surely she’s doing this on purpose,’ Hiruzen decided, uncertain. ‘The religious rhetoric she used on Orochimaru was a scare tactic.’

Either that or she truly was a bit of a fanatic. Fanatics with political and military power didn’t inspire the general public to sleep well at night. 

And that was exactly why Konoha, as the closest ally Kirigakure had, was stepping in to try to peacefully dissuade them from their current expansionist course of action. Annexing Wave Country was an act of provocation that did not sit well with any of the existing powers.

But then, Kirigakure, as a rule, had never been a source of comfort and peace of mind to the other nations. More of a cautionary tale, really. 

“Amaterasu guides through all challenges,” the priest said, apparently deciding her wording had been a result of militant shinobi perspective. 

Hiruzen considered the value of correcting that assumption: Very little. Shinobi were not religious at all as a rule, but this was not the politic thing to say at a shrine.

The bird called again.

There was a gasp. The head priest did not flinch, but his subordinate turned to look up into the mountains. 

Hiruzen frowned. That was where the Mizukage had been looking as well. 

“Is everything alright?” 

The priest took a moment to answer. “Perhaps that’s the Yosuzume. It’s unusual to hear it call when we are safely ensconced in the temple, however.” 

“They’re usually associated with traveling through the mountains,” the Mizukage added. “Could portend danger, or signal that protection is close.” She smiled. “Or it could be a sign for our meeting.”

‘...Am I out of touch with folk superstitions, or does she know an unusual amount about the supernatural?’

He resisted the urge to look at his bodyguards to see if they were aware of this mythology. “I see,” Hiruzen said. “Does the Yosuzume herald good luck?”

“Usually, it means you’re being followed by hungry wolves and a spectral dog,” the Mizukage answered. Her tone was amused. “If you are polite, Okuri inu will protect you from the wolves behind. If not, he eats you first.” 

Hiruzen took a moment to parse the title “dog that escorts”. He did not turn to look at Hatake-kun. He did not need to. “A reminder to be respectful, then.” 

“Something like that.” 

The priest folded his arms over his stomach. “Perhaps this could be considered a journey.” He looked between the two leaders speculatively. 

“Hmm,” said the Mizukage. Her gaze tracked over to Hatake-kun. “Or maybe a dog got into your temple.”

The priest had a laugh that came from the chest, rumbling and full. “I certainly hope not. Dogs belong outside. Come, let’s sit down to a meal together.”

Hatake-kun visibly sulked as they went inside.

They went past an opulent room of gold leaf and religious motifs to a dimly lit area. There was a simple wooden table, with rather bare cushions for seating and slightly lumpy cups waiting to be filled.

Well. It was a shrine, after all. Worldly comforts were not for those who serve the divine. 

They all took their places. The Konoha party took one side of the table. The head priest sat in the center, and the Mizukage primly folded into seiza at his right. The other priest bowed and left the room. 

There was a moment of silence. 

“Shinpu-sama.”

The head priest turned to look at the Mizukage as indulgently as if she had been accurate in calling him “father.” 

“Do you believe there’s one type of okuri inu that can be kind or cruel, depending on the behavior of the people they follow, or that there are both benevolent and malevolent okuri inu?” She sat up enough to retrieve the tea and poured for the priest. She then gestured to Hiruzen. He hurriedly held out his cup to receive it. 

“That is an interesting question, with mythology to support either interpretation,” the priest answered. He was audibly pleased as he picked up his teacup.

Maito-kun leaned forward to take the tea and poured for the Mizukage, then Hatake-kun, and then gestured for Hatake-kun to do the polite thing and pour the final glass.

“In every story I know, the okuri inu are sometimes unseen followers. They can also startle travelers by leaping about or appearing ahead on the path.” The Mizukage sounded pleasant.

Hatake-kun was staring directly at the high window with narrowed eyes. He did not make any move to pour tea for his peer. No one else had appropriate comparative social status to give Maito-kun a drink, and the baldest rudeness would be to pour his own. 

Hiruzen took a moment to wish that his scruffy employee would use manners. 

The Mizukage took a sip of her tea and continued. “Showing weakness such as cowering ensures that the inu will devour the traveler. Is that correct?”

“They are also merciful,” the priest said, a gentle correction. “If you beg them for your life, they will spare you.”

That didn’t seem particularly interesting to Hiruzen, but Hatake-kun and the Mizukage made the same polite “hmmm” noise. 

Hatake-kun startled slightly and looked at the Mizukage. She did not seem to notice his attention. “Thank you for explaining.” Her tone was flawlessly polite, just a bit bright and cheerful.

‘She simply does not respect me in particular,’ Hiruzen decided, with no small bit of amusement. ‘She has never used that tone near me before.’

The apparently mystical sparrow called again. This time, it sounded very close. 

The priest’s smile slipped. He twisted a bit to look out towards the garden. Night was falling and there was little to be seen.

The Mizukage stood. She crossed the room and opened the sliding door. —and the bird flew in immediately. It was an exceptionally large thing, certainly like no sparrow that Hiruzen had ever seen in nature or in his books. It had wide, dark wings and a white stomach. 

The priest cried out and extended his hand to the ceiling where the bird was flapping.

A feather was falling.

”This meeting is blessed!” The priest caught the feather reverently. “An omen from the gods.” He bowed deeply and clearly to the bird. 

“Oh, hello,” said the Mizukage. 

Hiruzen glanced over to see that she was still standing at the doorway looking outside. He wondered what she was doing.

And then came a howl. It was long, blood-curdling, and clearly very close.

The woman didn’t flinch, even as Hiruzen’s bodyguards shot to their feet. Her tone was bemused and polite at best as she answered, “I’m just visiting. No offense is intended, no debt is called.” 

That, Hiruzen thought, was a profoundly odd thing to say to a human-eating dog, spectral or not. 

There was an answering bark. 

The Mizukage bowed. 

The dog gave a perfunctory yap.

The Mizukage closed the door and glided back to her seat. She sat down. She did not offer any explanation.

“Uzumaki-san,” the head priest said gingerly, as if he wasn’t quite sure he should still be using that form of address. “Are we... Do we need to add another place setting?”

It took genuine effort not to roll his eyes back into his head. 

“No, no,” she demurred. She picked up her tea. “Just an emissary. Amaterasu watches her holy grounds well.” 

‘It was a hungry dog, and it is probably going to eat a devotee,’ Hiruzen decided. His jaw twitched. ‘Or else the Mizukage has one of her people rustling around the bushes and imitating a dog to make a dramatic statement.’

He gave the bird a suspicious look. Perhaps a summoned animal.

As if it knew what he was thinking, the supposed Yosuzume fluttered down from the rafters and landed on Maito-kun’s shoulder. He held perfectly still; watching with wide eyes. The bird stretched and peered at the watching humans. Then it began grooming its glossy black feathers. 

‘I should have sent someone else to do this. I am so tired.’

“Excuse me,” someone said, and slid open the door. The assistant priest entered the room with another man and began laying out dishes from three trays. 

The bird made a quiet chirrup as miso soup was placed in front of Maito-kun. It overlapped with his reflexive “thank you so very much!” Maito-kun blinked and went back to staring at the bird. 

It shoved its beak back into its wing feathers.

“Excuse me,” the assistant priest said again. He bowed and left the room without giving any indication that he noticed the 10kg bird. 

Hiruzen frowned, just a little. 

“Interesting,” he said, hoping that was enough comment on all the strangeness of the day. “Mizukage-sama, about your country recent’s activities in Wave...”

“Oh, we’re still workshopping that,” she said, brightening at the topic. She picked up her glossy chopsticks. “They’re a protectorate, not being subsumed, so obviously I can’t simply style myself as the 5th Mizukage. I’m now also the 1st...” she waved her free hand. “Something else. I’m leaning towards Namikage, but my advisers tell me it’s a bit too on the nose.” 

“That’s not exactly what I meant...” Hiruzen frowned.

The head priest hummed. “As these lands have recently suffered from mismanagement by Orochimaru-san, we here have learned that perhaps it is best to carefully consider the benefits and drawbacks of all chosen affiliations and protections.”

Ah. Hiruzen hid a wince. Nobody wanted to be compared to Orochimaru, however indirectly. 

The Mizukage focused on the head priest intently. 

Hiruzen braced himself to have to soothe her ego.

“Shinpu-sama, I recall that Orochimaru-san’s financial records indicated that his activities were overall beneficial for the economy. Does this reflect your observations?”

“Oh, yes,” he agreed genially.

What.

“The village of Sound he founded removed many brigands and other criminals, as well as funded various medical programs and incentivized international trade of rare commodities.” He paused, and his tone became less glowing. “I believe that he also sold a large volume of human organs, and the sale of meat across international borders incurs a particularly high tax.”

“Profitable,” the Mizukage said, without sounding put off in the slightest. “I’m sorry to hear that Orochimaru’s lack of planning meant that all that infrastructure collapsed when his village did.” She pursed her lips. “I, for example, would diversity the centers of commerce and distribute authority so that the loss of no one person, however tragic, might have such a detrimental impact on the economy.” 

“Really,” the ancient priest said. He looked at her speculatively. 

Hiruzen rather imagined that the expression on the Mizukage’s face meant that she was currently mulling over where she would put her things after annexing Sound country. No, no. He cleared his throat. “Maito-kun, how is the bird?”

“Energetic!” Gai beamed around the table. “Yosuzume-san is stretching well, no doubt to prepare for future flights warning unwary travelers of their spectral escort!” 

His exuberance startled the bird. It squawked and flapped, unbalancing. Its talons were still caught in Maito-kun’s flak jacket, so it ended up half on the table. With one mighty flap, it swept all his dishes to the floor.

After the clatter there was a long silence. 

Maito-kun silently helped the bird back to his shoulder. It almost looked sad, somehow. 

“These things happen,” the Mizukage said. Hiruzen was not entirely certain if she was soothing the bird or his jounin. Both of them looked a little bit cheered.

The priest sighed. “I am not certain if another serving is available.”

The Mizukage looked down at her food. Her rice was still untouched, and only the pickled eggplant was missing from her tsukemono. “Here.” She passed over her rice bowl and tsukemono with one graceful movement. 

Maito-kun took it on reflex, putting down the small dish of tsukemono on the table and cupping the rice in one hand.

The head priest audibly gasped. 

‘....No. I don’t want to know.’

It had to be something superstitious, and he was sick and tired of that. Hiruzen picked up his miso and loudly sipped at it, hoping that would cut off any elaboration.

“Thank you!” 

The Mizukage made a non committal sound in response and drank from her soup. 

Maito-kun beamed, and then jumped as the bird extended its neck to the table to gobble down all his pickled vegetables. His smile faded as he protectively held the rice bowl away. “Ah...” He glanced at the bird out of the corner of one eye and quickly ate a large quantity of rice. He paused. “Are you certain that you don’t want any, Mizukage-sama?” He picked up the now-empty vegetable dish, to protect it from also ending up on the floor.

Hatake-kun sighed audibly.

The Mizukage looked between them, as if she wasn’t sure what the right answer was. 

“I hate to take all of your rice and leave you hungry in bed! It would not be very gentlemanly.” Maito-kun was actually tearing up.

The Mizukage reached out with both hands. “That’s very kind, thank you. I hope you both enjoyed the food.” She seemed to genuinely include the bird in that.

The head priest watched this interaction with huge eyes. He was holding his breath.

Maito-kun passed back the half-full rice bowl and the empty vegetable dish. The Mizukage set down the tsukemono dish and, in the same movement, politely ate a bite out of the rice.

The head priest shot up out of his seat. “A wedding!” He cried. He clapped his hands. “How exciting, and how clever.”

“Say what?” Hatake-kun said. 

“Uzumaki-san, come come, you can’t sit here with your betrothed.” He put a hand on the young woman’s shoulder.

She stood, looking as if she was not particularly affected by this series of events. “Goodnight,” she said. It was bland.

There was a confused but polite echo of “goodnight” in return. 

“What has happened?” Hiruzen asked as the Head Priest guided the Mizukage to the door.

The old man glanced back. “A traditional proposal,” he said. “Sharing food! Quite romantic.”

“I am very romantic,” the Mizukage agreed. Then the door slid shut behind them.

As one, Hiruzen and Hatake turned to look at a shell-shocked Gai. 

“I did not expect this kind of thing from you,” Hiruzen said sternly. Young Maito shrunk back. He glanced at Hatake. “I expected this from you, to be honest.”

There was a very quiet and heartfelt “hey.” 

Hiruzen closed his eyes and rubbed at his temples. “We’ll sort this out in the morning,” he said, more to himself than to anyone else. 

“Unless a marriage is for Konoha’s benefit,” Hatake-said, sounding a bit vicious. His tone turned sly. “Or unless she’s proposed to the bird, in which case we can congratulate and be on our way.”

“I will do my duty!” Maito cried, standing abruptly. The bird let out a high pitched cry as well, struggling to stay upright. 

Then Maito-kun blinked. He looked at the bird. “Ahhh... what?”

“In one case, the Mizukage ate food and then gave the rest to a second intelligent being,” Hatake-kun pointed out. He sounded unbearably smug. “In the other, she handed a full dish and ate from the leftovers. Which is the culturally significant act of sharing?”

Hiruzen pried an eye open reproachfully. “Women don’t marry birds,” he said. Then he pursed his lips.

‘It very rarely strikes me anymore that I have just said a sentence for the first time in my long life. But I believe that is the first time I have ever said that.’

“I agree,” Hatake-kun said. He quirked a smile. “But both the old priest and the Mizukage seem to treat this bird as something more. So. Do they know that women don’t marry birds?” 

There was a long pause. The supposed Yosuzume preened.

“...I am probably the fiancé,” Maito-kun said. 

“But are you certain?”

“Hatake, that’s enough.” Hiruzen sighed. “Finish your dinner. I need to lay down.”