Just a Pawn

The windows of the Hokage Building should have overlooked Konoha's streets and alleys, its rooftops, and the children running across the training grounds. But darkness had fallen too quickly. Evening clouds swallowed the last trace of sunlight whole, turning the windowpane into a blurred mirror that reflected half of the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi's face—the deep crease between his brows and the dry lines at the corners of his eyes.

Homura Mitokado sat across from him.

An old desk stood between them. There were no documents on it, no scrolls, not even the Third Hokage's usual pipe. A crack ran along the slightly left side of Homura Mitokado's chair, left there years ago when Danzo had slammed the table during an argument over the succession of the Hokage.

There was no tea, no pleasantries. Only the two of them.

A moth squeezed through a gap in the not-quite-shut window and circled the light above the Third Hokage's head several times.

Homura Mitokado sat with his hands folded over his knees, maintaining the posture of a man who had attended countless high-level meetings and weathered countless disputes and unspoken understandings.

The silence lasted for a while. Homura Mitokado spoke first, shedding the businesslike tone he used during advisory meetings and replacing it with another tone, one he had not used in many years, one reserved for very few people.

"Hiruzen."

The Third Hokage's brow twitched. Homura Mitokado had called him that fewer times than he could count on one hand. The last time he had called his name that way in this room had been the night the Second Hokage named him Hokage. After saying it, Homura Mitokado remained silent for a long time.

"You've raised Hatake Sakumo too high."

The Third Hokage did not respond.

"Heroes are a good thing. The village needs heroes. After the war, with reconstruction underway and morale scattered, a name that can remain undefeated on the battlefield works better than a dozen decrees meant to calm the people. But Hiruzen, a hero cannot become Hokage."

The Third Hokage's gaze left the windowpane and settled on Homura Mitokado's face. His lips moved, then closed again. Without waiting for him to speak, Homura Mitokado continued.

"It isn't because he lacks the qualifications. It's because the Hokage must balance everyone's interests. Hatake Sakumo's blade only cuts down enemies, but the Hokage's blade sometimes has to cut where no one can see."

The Third Hokage rested his hand on the desk, his fingertips tapping twice against the wood grain without thought.

"Sakumo won't fight for it."

"He won't, but he doesn't need to." Homura Mitokado's tone did not grow heavier, yet the pauses between each word shortened. "As long as he stands there, he is a threat to Danzo, pressure on the Hyuga, unease for the Uchiha Clan, and a reminder to the advisory council—a reminder that the Third Hokage still holds a blade no one dares touch. Hiruzen, by making Sakumo stand there, you aren't using him. You're putting him in a place where he must be brought down."

The Third Hokage's fingers stopped.

"...Homura."

Homura Mitokado waited.

"I know what I'm doing with Sakumo."

Homura Mitokado waited a moment. Once he was sure the Third Hokage had nothing further to say, he nodded, then rose from his chair. As he walked to the door, the corridor lights cast his shadow long behind him, stretching from the doorframe to the edge of the Third Hokage's desk. The Third Hokage watched it shrink bit by bit until Homura Mitokado stepped outside, beyond the reach of the lights, and the shadow vanished.

Homura Mitokado did not look back. The Third Hokage remained seated, while the moth still circled the light, its wings making faint, fragmented sounds as they struck the glass.

The Third Hokage suddenly picked up his pipe and lit it. The scent of burning tobacco filled the room.

Homura Mitokado did not want to bear responsibility. He knew Homura Mitokado had not come today to stop him from using Sakumo, but to remind him that when wielding this blade, he must not forget that both edges could wound. One edge wounded the enemy; the other might wound him.

The evening sky was a dark, heavy blue-gray.

At the same time, within the Nara Clan's territory, Akimichi Choza had just finished his third red bean rice cake. Bean paste stained the corner of his mouth. He held a small plate in one hand and casually rubbed his fingertips along its rim. Inoichi Yamanaka sat across from him, shelling peanuts, tossing the kernels into his mouth and the shells into the wastebasket beneath the table.

Shikaku Nara leaned back in his chair. A shogi board sat on the low table before him.

The three families of Ino-Shika-Cho had fought countless battles and discussed countless matters in this room. There were no records, no listeners, and no hidden agents capable of reaching this deep into the forest—the Nara Clan's territory was filled with deer, whose hearing was sharper than that of any sensory ninja. Tree shadows swayed across the walls, and the wind brushed through the persimmon tree in the courtyard, its branches scraping softly against the eaves.

Choza spoke first. "Did you hear? About Hatake Sakumo." He pushed away the plate of rice cakes, leaned back in his chair, and tapped the armrest a few times. "The Third Hokage personally received him at the Hokage Building, praised him as Konoha's hero on the spot, and even granted him the Hokage Half-Sleeve. No one on the advisory council actually objected."

Inoichi Yamanaka paused while shelling a peanut, then tossed the kernel into his mouth. He chewed for a long time before swallowing. "Who could object? He carried out the mission. He blew up Hanzo's warehouses. He forced back Hidden Sand Village's western front. The name White Fang of the Leaf isn't something he spread himself anymore. It was spread by the defeated soldiers of the Hidden Rain Village."

Shikaku picked up the "King General" that had been forgotten on the board for a long time and spun it between his fingertips.

Choza looked at him. "Shikaku, it's only the three of us here. Say what you want to say."

Shikaku put the King General back on the board.

"The Third Hokage is shrewd, and none of the major clans are fools. Hatake Sakumo is now an unpredictable piece standing in the center of the board."

Choza glanced at Inoichi. Inoichi did not look back at him. Both men kept their eyes on Shikaku's face.

"When the king moves one step, the entire board changes. But what about Sakumo?" Shikaku pushed a Gold General into an empty square at the center of the board. "He is there, but he cannot move. Right now, both the Third Hokage and Danzo want to pull him into their own camps. Because of Byakuya Uchiha, even the Uchiha Clan may try to intervene. But his strength is right there, so for now he can still refuse to choose. No one dares make the first move. They are all focused on winning him over, afraid of forcing Hatake Sakumo to the other side."

Shikaku removed the Gold General from the center of the board and placed it outside the board.

"But he cannot play his own game. He has no pieces. The Hatake Clan has only him holding it up. Bai Ye barely counts as half a piece, but he is only a Chunin and cannot affect the bigger picture much. Unless he abandons the remaining members of the Hatake Clan, abandons his son, abandons his disciple, and becomes free of all attachments, perhaps with his strength he could leap out of the game."

Inoichi finally spoke. "So he can only be pushed around."

"Not just that." Shikaku pushed the Knight at the edge of the board into the spot where the Gold General had been. He took the Gold General from outside the board and covered it with his palm. Moonlight streamed through the window, turning the back of Shikaku's hand into a cold, white stone without warmth.

"An unpredictable piece is the most dangerous. Everyone wants to use it, but everyone is guarding against it too."

Inoichi threw a peanut shell into the wastebasket more heavily than usual. Two shells bounced out and landed on the floor.

Choza asked him, "Shikaku, what happens to an unpredictable piece in the end?"

Shikaku lifted his hand from the Gold General, looked at the piece gleaming beneath the moonlight, then picked it up from the board and placed it back in the wooden box at the corner.

"It gets captured. It's only a matter of time."

Inoichi stopped shelling peanuts. Choza's mouth hung half-open, a piece of rice cake caught halfway in his mouth.

The three of them were silent for a long time.

Choza swallowed the rice cake. "There's no way to help him? He's a hero, after all!"

"How do we help? Do the three Ino-Shika-Cho clans charge in together and block the blade for him? We can block it the first time, but what about the second? The third? Hatake Sakumo cannot fully join Ino-Shika-Cho, and Ino-Shika-Cho has no standing to help him with everything we have. More importantly, he is not facing only the Hokage or a single clan. Helping him is almost the same as declaring war on all of Konoha."

Inoichi's gaze left Shikaku's face and fell on the persimmon tree in the courtyard. Its branches swayed from side to side in the night wind.

"The survival rule of Ino-Shika-Cho is never to choose a camp. We are not like Hatake Sakumo. He can barely avoid taking sides only because of his strength, but that is too fragile. His achievements are too great now. Strength alone cannot support him. Our three clans have stood together since ancient times, and we have always avoided conflict with others. That is why we have remained standing." Shikaku pushed the wooden box of shogi pieces to the center of the table and folded his arms across his chest.

The three Ino-Shika-Cho clans had been bound together as one since the Warring States era. Choosing a side meant wagering the fate of all three clans. The Nara Clan might accept it, but would the Yamanaka Clan? Would the Akimichi Clan? Even if the three of this generation reached a consensus, what about the next generation? The generation after that? The continuation of the clan outweighed any individual's stance. The Ino-Shika-Cho clan motto had only four words: never take sides.

Inoichi pushed open the door. Moonlight flooded the entire corridor, and the shadows of the three men overlapped across the floor before separating again. Inoichi walked several steps toward the doorway and stood in the frame. The wind blew in, and several leaves fell from the persimmon tree.

"Shikaku, what if we persuade him to completely pledge himself to the Hokage? Since Bai Ye has already chosen the ANBU, is there any chance of preserving his life?"

Shikaku raised his head and looked at Inoichi. There was no aggression in Inoichi's gaze.

"Pledge himself to the Hokage?" Shikaku looked at Inoichi, a bitter smile crossing his face. "He is already on the Hokage's side. He does not need to pledge himself, and the Third Hokage will not allow him to."

Choza frowned. "What does that mean?"

"Hatake Sakumo is not like Lord Jiraiya, a master and disciple cultivated from childhood, nor is he a direct member of the Sarutobi Clan. He cannot offer political positions, factional allegiance, exchanges of interest, or anything else. Being a direct subordinate is not as simple as publicly declaring loyalty."

"What the Third Hokage has always wanted was not Sakumo's loyalty. What he wanted was for Hatake Sakumo to remain loyal to no one."

"As long as Hatake Sakumo stands in the middle, he is the Third Hokage's best card."

"So even if the Third Hokage knows that piece's fate, he will still leave it there. Because from the moment he placed Hatake Sakumo on the board, he never intended to retrieve that piece safely."

Inoichi's gaze returned from the persimmon tree. "The half-sleeve... is it a rope around his neck?"

Shikaku neither nodded nor shook his head. "It is a rope, and it is also a signboard. The Third Hokage wants to use Hatake Sakumo's reputation to deter Danzo, use Hatake Sakumo's fighting strength to balance the Hyuga and Uchiha Clan, and use Hatake Sakumo's existence to remind the advisory council that the village is not being held up by them alone. That is why he gave Hatake Sakumo the Hokage Half-Sleeve."

Choza's hand slipped from the armrest to his knee. He looked at Shikaku, his lips moving several times before he finally managed one sentence. "So he can only be captured."

Shikaku did not answer.

The moonlight outside grew brighter, turning the persimmon tree in the courtyard into a silhouette. Its shadow swayed along the wall. Several leaves fell from the branches, spun through the air a few times, and landed on the corridor floor with sounds so soft they were nearly inaudible.

Inoichi bent down and picked up the two fallen peanut shells by his feet, dropping them into the wastebasket with a light motion.

"Does Hatake Sakumo himself know?"

Shikaku remained silent for a long time.

"He should. He knows where he stands. He understands it better than any of us. He has no pieces in his hand. Only a blade."

No one spoke.

Choza picked up the plate of rice cakes again. It was already empty. He turned it over for a look, then set it back down.

"Ino-Shika-Cho cannot help him. Helping him means making enemies of every side in Konoha. Once we choose, the foundations our three clans have built over two hundred years will be on the line. If we win, we remain Ino-Shika-Cho. If we lose, Konoha may no longer have Ino-Shika-Cho." Shikaku put particular weight on the words "if we lose." "Hatake Sakumo's foundation is too shallow. If he had another ten or twenty years, if Bai Ye could become an elite Jonin, if he cultivated several more disciples, or if the Hatake Clan produced several outstanding figures, then perhaps with Ino-Shika-Cho added in, there might barely be a chance to preserve him. But now, he has no way out."

Choza did not understand. "What do you mean, no way out?"

"If he retreats now, stops accepting missions, stops putting himself forward, stops wearing that half-sleeve, and shuts the gates of the Hatake Clan, would it help? No! Would powerful enemies from other villages, people like Hanzo of the Salamander and Chiyo, stop hunting him just because he retreated? Would Danzo stop guarding against him because he retreated? Would the Third Hokage stop needing him because he retreated? The reputation he carved out on the battlefield is like words carved into stone. He cannot erase it, no matter how hard he tries."

"So the only thing he can do now is keep moving forward, and see where the road takes him."

The three of them fell silent again.

The night was deep. The wind had stopped, and no more leaves fell from the persimmon tree. Moonlight pinned the shadows of the three men to the corridor floor.

The light in the Hokage Building had been out for a long time.

Bai Ye was in the gray building behind the Hokage Building. He had just submitted his mission report and walked out of the ANBU corridor.

A row of ANBU attendance boards hung along the corridor wall.

"White Phoenix, what are you looking at?"

Bai Ye withdrew his hand from the attendance board. "Captain, have you heard that the Third Hokage granted Lord Sakumo a half-sleeve?"

Tie's expression did not change. He leaned against the corridor wall with both hands in his pockets and remained silent for a moment.

"I heard."

"What does Captain think?"

Tie did not answer immediately. He turned his head to look at Bai Ye. Politics could not be discussed in the ANBU, though everyone in the ANBU walked daily upon the blade's edge of politics. Tie's rule was not to discuss matters outside the ANBU on ANBU grounds. But today, Tie made an exception. He straightened up and patted Bai Ye on the shoulder. "You are his disciple, so I should not be the one saying this. But once you have spent enough time in the ANBU, you will understand. Some things have never been within one's control."