The forest's surrounding her village had always been a place of tranquility for Chisaki, no matter her mental state. All of the life in the forest harmonised beautiful, creating a soft melody that could only be heard if a person became one with the nature surrounding them. From the insects to the trees, almost all living things within the forest had a part to play in this melody. Humans were mere spectators to this musical performance. The Senju clan, her own clan, knew of the forests melodies better than most. Nature permeated the very essence and personality of any Senju, giving them the ability to appreciate what the forests had to offer.

The constant melody was rarely interrupted so deep into the forests of Hi no Kuni. The shinobi who called these forests home knew that nature demanded a certain respect from them and would in turn give them the same treatment. If a person ventured too far off the beaten path, the melody of the forest would be the only sound for miles around. This was a blessing to the young Senju woman who now walked the paths of her youth once more. The melody was what sustained her and kept her going, steadily placing one foot in front of the other in the direction that she knew her village and her people lay. Another thing about the forest is that it rarely changes, at least not to those who do not know how to see its true beauty. The forest was as eternal as the night's sky. This was another comfort to the Senju woman. Her presence, always welcomed in the forest, signalled a time of change for the very earth beneath her bare feet.

To the casual observer, the woman walking through the woods looked quite the mess. Her hair was matted and tangled, the skin on her bones covered in cuts and scraps. Her clothes were torn to shreds, held together only by sheer willpower, the very willpower that kept the woman beneath them going. The woman's blue eyes, bluer than even the ocean's depths, showed visible signs of exhaustion. Yet still, she persisted, with the melody of the forest being her conductor. The forests could always recognise one of their own and would always welcome them back.

The same could not be said for the people who lived within those forests. That was one more key piece of knowledge about the forest's melody. When it went silent, it could only mean a few things. The most common one being that someone unwelcome, someone strange to the melody, had joined the audience to become a phantom of the melody. Neither appreciating the melody nor having time for it, as such a person could never truly appreciate the forest or it's beauty. When the melody began to decrease in volume, so did the footfalls of the Senju woman. Even in her weakened state, she could quite clearly tell that something was amiss. Becoming a silent statue, as unfaltering as the earth, she listened to the tune the forest now played. A small sigh escaped the woman's lips as she noted the music's tone. They had found her at last. As the breath from her sigh escaped her lips, two figures clad only in black with masks white as bone landed before her. Had she had the strength, dispatching the two figures would have required minimal strength. Yet, in her weakened state, without the melody to sustain her, she simply stood there, as the two black figures hesitantly approached her. Her village had found her long before she had found it.

---

Deep within the confines of the headquarters of Konohagakure no Sato, as far from the public eye as one could possibly find themselves sat Chisaki Senju. The previous head of the Medical Corps and previous head of the Senju clan, dressed in rags with evident signs of borderline dehydration and exhaustion hanging to her like grotesque medals was sat in silence, gazing at a pattern on the wooden table before her. The room she was confined in was rather straightforward, as only an interrogation room could be. Bare walls, a single glass pane in one wall (obviously one-way) and a table at which the Senju woman was chained too. In the farthest corners of the room, two ANBU agents stood in hesitation. The protocol for a presumed defected shinobi was clear. Yet the woman at the table showed no signs of restraint or desire to have an altercation. Nor had she uttered a word since her arrest.

The hesitation and the slight tinge of fear permeated the air, along with the earthly smells of dirt and grass clinging to the woman like a perfume. Only a select few in the village had been made aware of Chisaki's return and then subsequent capture and fewer still knew how to process the information. So for now, while the ANBU and heads of the village decided what was to be done with her, she was to be confined. The woman in rags and chains merely sat there, her silence only adding to the unease that the two ANBU felt.

She had expected this upon her return, after all few shinobi ever left the village unannounced for well over a year without saying a word only to return dressed like a beggar. Yet, even after all that had happened to her in the past year, Chisaki knew where her loyalties still lay. The people of her village and the life she had built her had drawn her home. Whether or not she would be allowed to resume that life was unclear. What happened to her next was at the discretion of the village's elite. People who she may not even know anymore. After all, a lot can change in a year.

Unlike most of his colleagues, Kyohei preferred to work in his office. On this floor of the HQ building there was nothing but detectives’ offices, meaning that while half of the division was out doing field work at any given point in the day the offices were nice and quiet. Still combing through a seemingly never-ending amount of records on the appearances of these Jashin symbols in recent years, the ability to find a quiet place where he can focus utilize his Sharingan to power-read through files was invaluable. That is exactly what he had spent his uninterrupted morning doing, but alas, all good things must come to an end. Halfway through the current file he was reviewing another detective burst through his office door, hyperventilating as if he had just been doing sprints and running over to the windowsill desperately

“Hey! Come check it out! Out the window.”

“What is it now?”

“I overheard some news while I was up on the Chief’s floor delivering my report. Apparently the town is being paid a visit.”

“By whom?”

“Former head of the Medic Corps, Chisaki Senju.”

Kyohei’s eyes narrowed, finally peering up at his colleague by the windowsill over the top of the manila folder in his hands. Now that was a name he had not heard in quite some time. He was familiar enough with Chisaki Senju, although they had never met personally. By all accounts she was close to Risu and one of the few people who could call themselves the Orochi heiress’ friend. Her name was also a relatively frequent topic of conversation within Orochi Enaka’s inner-circle during the final weeks of his freedom. The Uchiha’s colleague had no idea how “interesting” this sudden re-appearance of this woman truly was, and what it could mean for the village.

“Hmph… Never heard of her.”

Kyohei spoke dismissively, careful not to give away any hints of his true level of interest with his words. It had barely been two months since his own return after a lengthy, unauthorized disappearance and there was not a chance that he wasn’t still looked at with some suspicion, even after being thoroughly investigated and cleared to return to duty. Chisaki, Sousetsu, Risu and he all vanished within a similar time frame and although there was no collusion, it would certainly rouse suspicion, especially if they all started turning up out of the blue. Setting down his reading material the fair-haired man would raise himself from his seat and make his way over to the window, crossing his arms as he gazed down to the streets below.

“What?! You’ve got to be kidding me! She was a big deal! And a real beauty! I remember getting roughed up pretty badly on one of my assignments and spending some time in the hospital. She paid a visit to my room while as she was doing her rounds while the doctor was treating me and came to my bedside to ask how I was doing! It was like being visited by an angel…”

Kyohei rolled his eyes and turned back toward the window as his colleague gushed like a school girl, just in time to see three ANBU operatives come into view with a woman in between them. The woman looked tattered and weary, a far cry from her more glamorous days in the village, but there was no fooling the Uchiha’s eyes. Chisaki Senju had returned. Two ANBU operatives flanked her sides walking several steps behind her while the third stood about twice that difference in front leading the way, a standard formation for transporting individuals through public spaces. On her wrists sat reinforced steel cuffs with a steel plate separating one hand from another, a device used by law enforcement within the village to declaw captive shinobi by taking away their ability to use hand signs. Kyohei was more than familiar with that particular model.

“An angel, huh? I didn’t realize your idea of heaven was a landfill. Now that I think about it, that isn’t that surprising.”

“Wha-?”

The fellow detective’s face contorted into an expression of shock and offense, horrified that the Uchiha could say something so cruel about Chisaki. Before he could say a word in response, however, Kyohei motioned with his head towards the window, prompting his colleague to take a look for himself.

“Oh no! What have they done to her?”

“Easy Super Fan. There’s no telling where she is travelling from, but she’s not hurt. I’m sure her halo and wings are just in storage.”

Kyohei patted the smaller man’s head condescendingly before turning towards his office door and walking away.

“H-hey! Where are you going?”

“For a walk. If they’re coming this way they are going to be interviewing her downstairs. I’m not interested in sticking around to deal with that headache. Lock my office on your way out.”

Kyohei never stopped walking during that exchange, only waving a hand in departure and raising his voice slightly as he walked into the hall to get his message across. The detective’s only concern now was getting himself into that interrogation room. Given their relationship and the circumstances surrounding both of their disappearances, Chisaki was as good of a chance to learn what happened to Risu as he’d had since his return. She had to know something…

---

Four stories below the Lobby of the Headquarters building, far from anything but concrete walls and armed guards, sat the interrogation room which held Chisaki Senju, awaiting the detective assigned to interview her. Given the high profile of her return she would not have to wait long. Most in the department would jump at the chance to get this case. The one assigned was no different, slamming the door behind him unnecessarily hard, a tactic of his used in an attempt to intimidate the subject of the interview and soften them up for the questioning. It never worked. This particular investigator was hardly the cream of the crop, well known as someone who received a detective badge almost solely because of seniority. The Chief no doubt dreaded having to assign him to a case this important for the village, only having done so because his name was next on the rotation and he didn’t want to deal with the man’s complaining.

“CHISAKI SENJU!”

The man yelled angrily, his voice only made louder by the echo of the sealed room with bare walls. He also had the habit of almost comicly exaggerated gesutes, as displayed with him standing with him puffing his chest out, his left hand akimbo to his hip and his right dramatically pointing at the woman across the table.

“You and I both know you’re guilty! So how about we cut to the chase? Talk!”

---

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Despite the apparent youth of the young Senju woman, her eyes told a very different story. They told the story of heartache. An inner turmoil that no woman so young should have ever had to endure. Yet there was still a glimmer of... something to be seen. A certain inner flame that despite all the darkness, had yet to be snuffed out. Since returning to the village, this inner light had only continued to grow in size, the very will of the village acting as the kindling to nurse the flame back to life.

The more noticeable and far less subtle nuance of her eyes was the young woman's right eye, which had taken an eerie purple hue as of late. Her mismatched heterochromatic eyes had gained the effect of becoming extremely uncomfortable to look at for a person who nerves weren't tempered enough. This change in her eye colour symbolised her inner conflict, in the past that is. In recent months her eyes had become a symbol of harmony, two sides living side-by-side in a perfect co-existence. Of course, this was all rather complicated and only a person who understood Chisaki's true back story could even begin to fathom to the true significance of her duality.

Chisaki was using her mismatched eyes to great effect in her current situation. On the way back to the village, her eyes had struck a certain chord of fear into the otherwise deadly ANBU operatives. The young woman had always been known as one of the most formidable shinobi in the land of Konoha, her reputation often proceeded her. Even in tatters with signs of great fatigue, her inner power was still a force to be reckoned with. It was this reputation, combined with her silence and uncomfortable gaze that had forced the ANBU to treat her with extreme caution.

Having been one of the most influential shinobi of her generation, Chisaki was familiar with the inner workings on her village's elite and knew they would take time to deliberate what to do with her. That being said, they would still have to follow some form of standard protocol for a returning presumed missing-nin. Her previous reputation would no doubt have been tainted to a certain degree and even if it hadn't, prior accolades can only get one so far in their life. Chisaki had predicted all of this upon her return to the village before she even began the journey east to the village. But there was no pain she was not willing to suffer for the lives of the innocent within the village she loved like her own child.

So, she sat patiently in utter silence. With her right index finger, she was tracing a pattern upon the surface of the table before her. Her wrists were chained firmly to the concrete surface, but she had enough movement to move her fingers to a certain degree. She had yet to utter a single word to anyone who had approached her. The ANBU guards in her cell found her calm demeanor to be a tad unnerving, but their specific training allowed them to maintain an aloof air, uncaring whether or not their prisoner spoke to them.

Yet, the silence that embraced the three occupants of the interrogation room was soon shattered. The door to the room was slammed open with what Chisaki took to be an attempt at demonstrating dominance. Most men started interrogation's this way, with blustering. Chisaki's gaze didn't lift from the table, as she let the proud peacock strut into her cage, displaying his less than adequate plumage for all to see. Continuing to trace her pattern on the table's surface, she listened to the male detective as he continued to bluster, yelling out her name for all to hear.

Chisaki continued to keep her silence, sighing ever so slightly under her breath as the male detective asked her his questions and displayed his pompous arrogance. Once he quieted down, she looked up, her mismatched eyes boring deep into the detective's mundane one. Politely, Chisaki raised her hand to her mouth to cough, before she lowered it. She allowed this action to drag on for an unnecessary amount of time, but never did she once remove her gaze from the senior detective.

After lowering her hand back down to the table, she smiled ever so slightly, before speaking, breaking her silence for the first time in weeks. "The only guilt I carry is to have gone so long without returning to my home. The guilt I carry is for my husband and my clan. Yet, there is no other crimes to which I am guilty." She paused, for effect "Now, I have a question for you. If you have me, you want to share me. But if you share me, you no longer have me. What am I?" Her voice sounded rusty, as though it had not been used for quite some time. Yet with every word she spoke, her voice grew stronger and steady, far more like what it used to sound like.

Chisaki’s silence and unresponsiveness unnerved the detective, who was clearly out of his depth to all those present to witness his reaction. The man wore his heart on his sleeve and his fear on his face, diverting his eyes when faced with the detainee’s gaze. In order to occupy time to regather himself the man’s fingers clumsily fumbled up towards his shirt pocket, desperately reaching for the pack of cigarettes peeking out over the white of his shirt. Three times his thumb ran down the striking mechanism of the disposable lighter he pulled from his pocket and three times the flame flickered out, frustrating the man. On the fourth try the lighter finally held a flame, igniting the end of the cigarette perched between his lips in orange embers. It was not until he took his first long drag of smoke that he was able to calm his nerves and compose himself. Defiantly the detective slammed both of his hands on the table between he and the woman, leaning on the table and glaring at her defiantly.

“What is this some kind off a trick? I’m the one asking the questions here! I’m not just going to give you an answ-“

“A secret.”

The detective’s and ANBU operatives’ heads would turn on a swivel towards the interrogation room’s doorway, where their gazes would meet the disinterested expression of Kyohei Uchiha, holding in his right hand his golden badge as proof of his position and in his left a cardboard cup holder with two covered, white paper cups occupying two of the four slots. Without awaiting a response from any of the official representatives in the room the Uchiha would approach the table in the center of the room, placing the carboard tray down gently before reattaching his badge to his belt. He would immediately turn his body to face the already present detective who was still leaning forward against the tabletop even as his attention diverted to Kyohei.”

“What are you doing here? I’m in the middle of an interview.”

“Not anymore. I’m relieving you. You’re sweating. Nervous?”

“Shut the hell up. Don’t patronize me you bastard! This is my op!”

“Like I said, not anymore. If you don’t like it, bring it up with the Chief. This case is out of your league, so why don’t you go take a walk.”

The older detective would jerk himself up from the table and posture aggressively towards Kyohei, clearly both angered and embarrassed at the prospect of being shown up in the middle of an interrogation. The man’s fists and teeth clenched so tightly that his hands begun to shake at his side, as if he were a geyser teetering on the edge of explosion. The Uchiha was completely unfazed by the display, only serving to irritate the man further. Finally he would snap, reaching out and grabbing hold of Kyohei’s shirt just below the collar, pulling the younger man closer to him in the process.

Kyohei’s facial expression became decidedly more stern as he glared down at the man who took hold of him. As the Uchiha raised his right hand the detective seemed to reach a moment of clarity, fear and concern replacing the anger in his eyes. As the younger man’s hand came in view his eyes shut tightly, as if bracing to be struck, but Kyohei had no intention of doing so at this point in time. Instead, the Uchiha grabbed the cigarette protruding from his mouth, dropping the still burning stick into the man’s shirt pocket and using his palm to crush it against him, extinguishing the embers.

“You should know the Chief’s policy regarding smoking within HQ. Go and clean yourself up.”

Reluctantly the man would obey, releasing his grip on Kyohei and turning his gaze downward towards the floor, unwilling to meet the gazes of anyone in the room after such an embarrassing display. His left arm reached towards the table to collect the pack of cigarettes he had placed there when lighting up a smoke, but before his fingers could reach the container the Uchiha’s would come down over the top of the box, cutting off his path. The message needed no words to be communicated, causing the man to simply turn and walk away in silence. With that obstacle out of the way Kyohei would turn his attention back across the table towards the woman who was meant to be the subject of interrogation, Chisaki Senju.

“Hm, Heterochromia… That wasn’t in your file.”

Rather than taking a seat across the table from Chisaki, Kyohei simply stood, not yet ready to sit down and engage in conversation in earnest. One thing he had learned while on the job was that cases moved at their own pace. Some things couldn’t and shouldn’t be rushed. The Uchiha picked up the pack of cigarettes left behind by the previous interrogator with his right hand and began gently striking the bottom of the pack with his free palm, a common habit of smokers as they prepared to draw a smoke. He was not a smoker himself, but he had observed enough of them in the police department to be able to recreate many of their typical behaviors from memory. In his experience it was rarely a waste to unconsciously train others to see you in a certain way with misdirecting behavior.

“Well, was I right? Your riddle. It’s a secret.”

---

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