"But it is. It's something you need, and that's a long way from nothing. If you need it, Eddie, we need it. What we don't need is a man who can't let go of the useless baggage of his memories."
― Stephen King, The Waste Lands

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They gorge themselves on sushi, the girls' unanimous decision. Apparently Ino found out about a recently opened sushi joint at the intersection of the shinobi, civilian, and some shadier district when shopping with her dad, and has been eyeing it since, and shared the information with Sakura and Hinata. If anything, Ren's idea of paying for the food of choice of the winner of the exercise was actually pretty convenient. Naruto would have absolutely wanted to go to Ramen Ichiraku and, given the quality of food, Sasuke and Kiba would have agreed. Choji had been muttering something about hotpot, and Ren made a mental note to take the kids somewhere like that next time. She hasn't had a hotpot in a while. (She conveniently didn't compare her situation to that of a nanny, especially given how often it happened when she was home. Living in blissful denial was better for her sanity anyway.)

But then, she hasn't had sushi in a while, either, so she is just as giddy as the girls to go test out the new place.

(And isn't that weird? Renee hated rice, and wasn't that big a fan of fish either. And yet, here she is, unironically loving sushi. And well-made onigiri stuffed with meat.)

"When I heard that you herd a literal army on your off-days, I didn't believe them," Hibiki told her as they left. He had stayed longer than he initially intended, inevitably roped into the madness. "But now that I've seen it, I believe. It's—pretty amazing, actually."

"It is. I'm not even sure how it all happened myself," Ren shrugged. "I just adopted Sasuke, then he made friends, then it turned out that Naruto's life was shit so I adopted him, too, after yelling at old man Sarutobi. I'm still not sure how I survived shit-talking the village leader to his face, repeatedly, but every time I go at him I'm usually too angry to care."

"Wait, really?" Hibiki turns to her. "You just, what-? Go yell at the Hokage, and nothing happens?"

"I get a slap on the wrist at worst," Ren shrugs. "Like, why? I understand I'm the current Uchiha Clan Head, and I have more money, influence, and just general clout than he can afford to lose in terms of village planning, but—I'm still a shinobi? I'm still his subordinate? You think it's because I'm a clan head? That for some reason I still have influence, even if I'm just a branch family nobody elevated in status due to lack of literally anyone else?"

Hibiki shrugs. "I'm also just a branch family member, I don't know shit. Maybe he's just afraid that you'd undermine him once you get politically active? You have the means. Honestly, I'm not good at this. It can be anything, from your special snowflake massacre survivor status to your position in the socio-political hierarchy. Who the fuck knows."

He looks around casually, then leans in and whispers in Ren's ear, "As far as I'm concerned, people over sixty should be automatically removed from all positions of power, because they start losing touch with reality."

Ren just snorts and pats him on the shoulder in response.

"Come on, I gotta get the kids home. Or are you going back now?"

"I'll be heading back," Hibiki says and makes to move, but then stops, considering. "Will you be free, tomorrow, at seven in the evening? And potentially the rest of the night?"

"Sure," Ren says. "I'll have a few things to do, but I can make it. Or I'll just send a summon if I'm running late."

"Great!" he claps his hands. "And wear something nice, okay? Not work clothes. And not training clothes. Not necessarily anything formal, but, casual-nice, okay?"

"Sure. It's a date then?"

"Yeah. By the fountain in the main square?"

"The sea dragon one?"

"That one, yes. Tomorrow. At seven. Or slightly later, if you need."

"I should be able to make it on time. It's a date, then. See you tomorrow, Hibiki."

He leaves without further ado and Ino, who witnessed the whole exchange, gives Ren a thumbs-up, making the older girl chuckle. It's a flurry of activity after that, getting all the kids to their homes, clan compounds mostly, all at different parts of the village. The clan members are long past the stage where seeing Ren with their miniature clan heads is something to be surprised about. These days most of them just nod at her as they pass. Except the Hyuuga, because they have to be spoilsports, but they have long since learned that Hinata shows a surprising amount of backbone for herself when they try to limit her contact with the 'unsavory kind'.

(It should also be mentioned that, while the 'unsavory kind' exclusively means Sakura, a civilian, and Naruto, a Jinchuuriki, the other clan kids counted themselves among that category by default and kicked up quite a fuss. The Hyuuga had to actually come forward with apologies—twice to Ren, in fact. She, rather infamously, took offense to people giving Naruto trouble for his status. Ren just hopes the stuck-up fuckheads learned something from that embarrassment.)

Shino is the last to get home, and it's more of a tactical decision; he lives the farthest from where they start dropping the kids off, and Ren wants to stay a bit for some tea and politicking. Her 'Honorary Aburame' thing is all in name only, really, a token of gratitude for saving Torune, but it definitely is one of the main factors as to why Danzō didn't openly, ah, 'vanish' her before, and now this same immunity will be a part of keeping Naruto and Sasuke safe when Ren takes her extended vacation to get her ass kicked by spiders and learn some sweet double-ended skills in Joren.

That, and she will finally be doing something with the Uchiha compound. It has been gathering dust for long enough. Four years of mourning are all people will get from her to mourn the clan they had all genuinely disliked before they got slaughtered. And Shibi, as a fellow Clan Head who is mostly in charge of his clan's sizable compound, should have a good idea as to where to start and what to do.

With the kids temporarily ushered into Shino's room to look at his 'super cool' beetle collection, Ren takes the time to visit Shibi in his office. It's modern-European in style, with a desk, chairs, and bookshelves, which had surprised her—most clans she's aware of keep their rooms in a traditional, if outdated, Japanese style. As someone not remotely anywhere from Asia, it bothers Ren a bit with its otherness even now, four years after living surrounded by the style.

"Hello, sensei," Ren says, inclining her head politely. There are so few people in the village she genuinely respects that she could probably even count them on her fingers, but Shibi definitely counts among them. Not only did he take time away from his important duties risking a mistake or the ire of his clan to wrangle three wild brats, he actually did good by them, and taught them things. And even after they've gone their separate ways, he is still there for them, willing to let outsiders into his normally reclusive clan, just to catch up. Ren has visited several times, as has Hana. She isn't sure of Hibiki, but that's because she hadn't had much contact with him until now, as he was busy alienating himself from the Hyūga—but who is she kidding, Shibi was probably the first person to support him, after his clan undoubtedly cut him off.

Shibi takes one look at her from over his steaming cup of tea—ginger-cinnamon with milk no doubt, since both he and his kikaichu are addicted to the stuff—and Ren senses him narrow his eyes at her in displeasure. "What stupid thing are you planning on doing?"

Ren chuckles, scratching her neck. "How good are your privacy seals?"

Shibi takes a deep, steadying breath, and flares his chakra. "Good enough."

"Danzō planted a ROOT agent on my latest mission to kill me, which failed because of my ridiculous luck, and now I'm planning to leave the thug's body in the Hokage's office when I'll be fucking off to Joren for a month or so," she explains rapidly, and the temperature in the room drops. "Also I'm pretty sure the Hokage won't actually do anything about it, because he's a senile old fool in Danzō's pocket."

Shibi takes off his glasses, which is enough to make Ren fidget, and pinches the bridge of his nose. For a moment, the only sounds in the room are breathing and the faint buzzing of kikaichu coming from Shibi.

"Go to the clan heads," he says finally.

"Eh?"

"Ren, I know you're smart, smarter than the average person, but you have a big issue with asking others for help, do you know that?" Shibi asks, and Ren huffs, turning away.

"Then what would you have me do?"

"Rely on others."

"How?" she asks, because it's an alien concept to her. It was always Renee, always Ren, always alone, always with others relying on her, but never anyone to rely on. Certainly not her awful, awful original family. The only exceptions, ever, are Genma, Hana, and Shibi. But that's three people, and Danzō is the lord of the criminal underworld.

"Do you have evidence?"

"Not enough to convict him, but probably enough to kickstart a proper audit, if he didn't have the Hokage in his pocket," Ren answers grumpily. What else can she even do?

"And did you even think of going to other clan heads and showing it to them?" Shibi asks, and Ren stops and stares at him. "Did it not occur to you that they'd help?"

"Adults help?" she blurts out before she can stop herself, and something like regret flickers through Shibi's eyes. "Ah, no, sorry! I mean—in my whole life I've only been able to depend on you and Genma and nobody else, ever, so—"

"No, it's okay, Ren," Shibi sighs. "I understand that adults in your life were less than stellar, but trust me, you can count on us. If it weren't for you, both Shino and Torune could be dead, or worse, and I didn't act only due to the lack of evidence. Not much you can get from charred or poison-rotten corpses. But if you really have evidence, you—we—can go to other clan heads, and start an official investigation."

"I—We… Oh. Holy shit, Shibi-sensei, do you think we can be rid of Danzō for good? Within, like, the next few months?!"

"Yes," he affirms. "I think it's possible. Just, as I said—you evidence needs to be good enough to start an audit, and everything will snowball from there."

Ren's hands are shaking. Living as Renee and hating Danzō as a character in the story was one thing, but living as Ren, under the constant, looming threat of the madman is not at all pleasant. It could potentially ruin the storyline—and she doesn't care. So long as Danzō is gone, so long as she and the kids are safe, so long as that man-shaped filth is no longer anywhere near anyone she cares about, it's fine.

"I—I was going to go to Joren Falls, for a month or so, to learn Sage Mode," she admits to Shibi. "Leave Sasuke and Naruto with Genma, or maybe Tsume, or you, if you agreed, so that they'd be safe—"

"That would be ideal," Shibi says. "Danzō, if we drag him out, would undoubtedly target you, and them. I'll set something up with Tsume—I have a feeling that Genma's expertise will be needed elsewhere, if we go through with this."

"And Sakura," Ren says. "She's the only civilian child of the group, he could try going after her, too—I, uh, she likes medicine. Maybe she could stay with the Inuzuka and learn something from Hana?"

"Not a bad idea," Shibi nods approvingly. "Now, tell me, what is that evidence you have."

"A documentation of a deal between Danzō and one Doku Romi, with signatures," she says, grabbing at her wrist. There, in a wristband, she keeps two miniaturized scrolls with all the incriminating evidence on Danzō she has gathered, safe and waiting to be revealed. "And the hit on me, also with signatures. He likes to keep everything documented, the old fool—still thinks he's doing the god's work. And—and the corpse, he'll have a seal on his tongue. I don't know much about seals, I don't know how deep it reaches, but it's still there. I was afraid it'd disappear with the death of the bearer, but it hasn't, thankfully. Danzō may be able to track the body down with it, once it's removed from the storage seal, so."

She unhooks the scroll with the paperwork, and throws it at Shibi. "Here."

"All right," he hums as he catches the scroll mid-air. "I'll look through it and get back to you tomorrow, how's that sound?"

"I have a date at seven," she blurts out, and for a moment Shibi looks surprised, but then he chuckles. "With Hibiki."

There's the shock.

"Oh?" Shibi teases after a moment's pause, and Ren groans.

"It's not really serious, we both just need to unwind and don't intend it to go anywhere," she explains plainly but it's fine, as some tension leaves her body. "I intend to make use of it to the fullest before I have to go to Joren, though."

"Good for you. I'm just surprised it's Hibiki of all people. You two never exactly got along."

"Eh, I grew up, he grew up. It happens. So, uh, so that you know. After seven in the evening I may be a bit harder to get a hold of."

"That's fine, I should be able to get back to you before Academy is out."

"Good. Great. Thanks, sensei. Really."

"It's fine, Ren. You may no longer be a genin, but you're still my student, and always will be. If you ever need guidance, I'm here. If you need help, I'm here. Or even if you just need to talk to someone. I know you didn't have many responsible adults around you growing up, but you can count on me."

Ren takes a shaky breath, and smiles. "Yes, I—Thank you, sensei."

Maybe it was high time for Renee and Ren both to realize that they could count on people other than Hana and Genma and Shibi. Maybe the lesson would even stick.

Maybe, maybe, maybe.

(She hates being unable to stay, now that she knows Danzō could potentially be taken care of in the coming months. But this just makes the situation even more dangerous to her, now that he might actually outright go after her.

The kids, unlike her, can't stay a whole month in a spider-infested magical forest, and she just hopes they'll be safe while she is on her self-imposed exile.)