Here is the next chapter of Spirited. It takes place two months after where last chapter left off. As for a disclaimer, refer to the first chapter or to my profile. I think that's all you need to know for now. Enjoy.
Jiraiya and Tsunade entered Commander Sarutobi's office. Tsunade carried two-month old Naruto. "You called for us, Commander?" Jiraiya asked.
"Yes," the commander said. "I think I may have found the first three vessels for you."
"What?!" Jiraiya's eyes widened. Then he noticed Fugaku Uchiha, his wife Mikoto, their two sons, and their ward. "Oh man…"
Fugaku glanced at the commander, who nodded. "From birth my children have been…curious. Itachi here is five. He's often seems to be in ill. My wife and I have brought him to countless doctors, but none of them can find anything wrong with him. Itachi describes it like a fever- sometimes he's too hot, sometimes, he's too cold, and sometimes he just aches all over. Whenever we take his temperature, though, it is normal. The only times he says that he doesn't feel ill is when he's in danger." Fugaku paused to see how Jiraiya and Tsunade were taking this.
Tsunade looked at the boy being spoken of. He didn't look ill at all. In fact, the only thing off about him was the two diagonal scars that cut across his young face. Tsunade asked him, "What happened to your face?"
Itachi looked up at her. "I was with Mommy, but then I got separated. Then the alarm that signals the explosions went off, and I ran. I was in the dark spot between buildings, when a man tried to kill me. He cut me and was going to kill me, but then I stopped feeling ill and he was."
Tsunade blinked. "You mean that you made him sick?"
"No," Itachi said. "I made him burn. Or at least that's what he said."
"And then what did you do?" Tsunade asked.
"I ran again, and any time someone tried to hurt me, they acted like they were hurt. And I didn't feel sick at all," Itachi said.
"Hm…" Tsunade looked at Jiraiya. "Which one do you think it is?" Jiraiya shrugged.
"Sasuke can talk to animals," Itachi said.
"Huh?" Jiraiya looked down at the boy. "Say that again."
"Sasuke can talk animals," Itachi said. "Plants too, I think."
"…Well," Tsunade said. "Does your other brother do anything strange?"
"Cousin Tobi is always happy," Itachi said. "And he can make Daddy smile. No one ever can make Daddy smile the way he does when Tobi is close, not even Mommy." Fugaku hn-ed in what seemed to be protest. "But it's true, Daddy," Itachi said. "Tobi is special, even if everyone says he's dumb."
"Thank you, Itachi," Tsunade said, smiling. "That was very helpful." She stood, realizing that she'd unconsciously knelt down to little Itachi's height to talk with him. "Mr. Uchiha? What say you about your youngest?"
"I've never seen him communicate with plants or animals, but Itachi isn't the type of child to lie," Fugaku said.
"Mrs. Uchiha?" Tsunade asked.
"I saw Sasuke playing with some birds that were sitting on our window sill," she said. "I'm not sure if he was communicating with them, but they didn't fly away despite all of his sudden movements."
"I see," Jiraiya said. "How about Tobi?"
"Well, Tobi is a special case," Mikoto said. "He lost his parents, which is why he stays with us now. The day he lost his parents, he lost his left eye, which is why he's wearing an eye patch. The doctors suspect that when he lost his eye, he suffered some brain damage, not to mention emotional trauma. They think that at some point before he's a ten he'll stop developing mentally."
"Alright," Tsunade said. "Itachi said something about him making people smile?"
"Yes," Mikoto said. "His presence just makes everyone happy. Itachi's right. Tobi can make everyone smile. It must be his childish charm, because he can indeed make my dear stoic husband smile like a little boy opening presents on his birthday."
"Do you agree, Mr. Uchiha?" Jiraiya asked. Fugaku nodded.
Mikoto nudged Tobi forward. "Go on, Tobi. These two are very nice people."
Little Tobi stepped forward. "Hi," he said shyly. "Tobi is a good boy."
"I forgot to mention," Mikoto said, "He refers to himself in the third person. I think it's due to the brain damage."
"Ah," Tsunade said. "How old is he?"
"Four," Mikoto said.
"And Sasuke?" Tsunade asked.
"Five months."
"Thank you," Tsunade said. "Hello, Tobi. I'm Tsunade, and this big guy next to me is Jiraiya."
Tobi smiled up at them. "Tobi is a good boy! Tobi says hello!"
Tsunade couldn't help but smile, and neither could Jiraiya. Even little Naruto grinned, gurgled, and giggled in her arms.
"Oooooh!" Tobi looked at the little blonde boy. "Tobi wants to know who that is."
"This is Naruto," Tsunade said.
"Naruto?" Fugaku asked. "You're taking care of Minato and Kushina's child?"
"Of course," Jiraiya said. "I'm his godfather, and Tsunade and I are a package deal."
"Does he have a spirit in him?" Fugaku asked.
"Two, actually," Jiraiya said.
"Two?!" Mikoto gasped.
"Yes," Commander Sarutobi said, reminding everyone that he was still present. "He holds the spirits of Peace and Hate."
"That must go together well," Fugaku said.
"They do," Tsunade said. "Peace keeps Hate under control. In fact, Peace is generally sociable. Maybe it can tell us which spirits dwell in your children." She looked hopefully at little Naruto. A moment later, Naruto glowed pearly white before the pearl-colored butterfly of energy appeared on him.
"Fugaku, Mikoto, kids, meet the spirit of Peace," Jiraiya said.
"Oooooh! Tobi says pretty! Pretty!" Tobi squealed. He ran forward and tried to touch it, only to find that his little hands passed through it.
Suddenly Itachi coughed so hard that he almost knocked himself over. He wrapped his arms around his chest. "It hurts," he gasped softly.
"The Spirit of Pain has never liked me," the Peace butterfly said.
"Pain?" Jiraiya asked. "The fever symptoms seemed like Illness to me."
"It is Pain," the butterfly said. Fugaku and Mikoto looked at each other in horror.
"Talks! Talks!" Tobi cheered.
"Ah. Happiness," the butterfly said.
"That's not surprising," Tsunade said, looking at the beaming Tobi. "And Sasuke?"
The butterfly was silent for a moment. Then it said, "Wild."
"Wild?" Mikoto asked nervously. "Will it hurt him?"
"No," the butterfly said. "Wild chose him. Unlike Pain. Who gave their life to seal it?"
"What Peace is asking is who died when Itachi was born," Jiraiya translated.
"Oh." Mikoto looked at Fugaku. "Your great-uncle Kagami. He died just a few hours after Itachi was born."
"His soul must have seen Pain and trapped it," the Peace butterfly said.
"You think?" Jiraiya asked.
"Yes," the Peace butterfly said. Then Naruto started crying. "Hm. That fox has woken up. I must go." The butterfly disappeared.
There was a brief silence. Then Fugaku asked, "Did we just have a conversation with a spirit?"
Tsunade and Jiraiya nodded. "You get used to it fast," Jiraiya said.
"Our poor baby has the spirit Pain sealed inside him," Mikoto whispered, drawing Itachi close to her.
"Mommy, I'm ok," Itachi said. "Now that the butterfly is gone, it doesn't hurt so much anymore."
"I'd hate to see what Naruto would be like if he didn't have Peace to balance out Hate," Tsunade said. "It's a good thing you're so strong, Itachi. You can control your spirit."
"How do you know so much about spirits?" Fugaku asked.
"It's a little known fact that the Uzumaki clan is the ultimate source for all things spirit," Jiraiya said. "I didn't know it until the night we lost Minato and Kushina. After that, the Uzumaki's did some explaining, and we got a clearer picture of how the spirits operate."
"I see," Fugaku said. "Why aren't the Uzumakis taking care of this?"
"They're dealing with the spirits that are trying to break through. The break ten years ago was enough to excite the spirits so that the more mischievous and/or destructive ones are trying to find weaknesses in the barrier that separates our world from the spirit," Commander Sarutobi said. "Therefore I tasked my two best soldiers with the difficult job of tracking down the spirits and taking care of their vessels."
"Does that mean we have to give you our children?" Mikoto asked, clutching little Sasuke close to her.
Jiraiya and Tsunade looked at each other. "No," Tsunade answered. "We know where you guys live. We're living in the country in a mansion that acts as home, headquarters, and a training facility. When the kids are old enough, they can spend some time with us learning to fight, but they don't have to live with us permanently."
Mikoto breathed out a sigh of relief. "Thank you."
"No problem," Jiraiya said. "Naruto alone is a handful. I don't know what we'd do with Sasuke, Tobi, and Itachi on top of him."
"Tobi is a good boy!" Tobi said. "Tobi would take care of Sasuke."
"I'm sure you would," Tsunade said. Then she turned to her leader. "Commander?"
"I declare this resolved. We now have only twenty more vessels to locate. I'm sure you and Jiraiya don't want to go trekking all over these war-torn lands with little Naruto," Commander Sarutobi said, nodding to the baby in Tsunade's arms. "I want you to nominate some trackers. They'll be trained by the Uzumakis, and then they'll go out and do the searching, and eventually, when they return home, even the training."
"Alright," Jiraiya said. "We'll think about it." He turned to Itachi and Tobi. "I hope to see you two at our mansion someday when you get older, ok?"
"Tobi is a good boy! Tobi will do as you say," Tobi said.
"Yessir," Itachi said. He sounded too much like a seasoned soldier for Jiraiya's liking, but he decided that it was due to the Pain spirit that was giving the child so much grief.
"You all are dismissed," the commander said. "And I'm sure I don't have to tell you, Fugaku, that the spirit business will stay between us all."
"I wouldn't think otherwise, Commander," Fugaku said.
"Then I'll you later. We need to discuss our plan of attack with Shikaku and the ambassadors," Commander Sarutobi said as the party walked out the door. Tsunade and Jiraiya did not envy the man for filling one their former positions as generals.
"So…who should we nominate to do our tracking for us?" Jiraiya asked Tsunade as they pulled into their garage.
"I was thinking Colonel Kakashi Hatake," Tsunade said. "He's got tracking dogs, and he's the last member of Minato's team."
"Yeah," Jiraiya said. "How about Lieutenant-Colonel Anko Mitarashi? She was one of Orochimaru's students."
"She's a piece of work," Tsunade said as Jiraiya unlocked the house.
"True, but Oro didn't choose her for nothing," Jiraiya said. "Also, how about the Commander's son Asuma? He's a Colonel like Kakashi."
"If we take him, we'd better take his girlfriend," Tsunade said. " Major Kurenai Yuhi. She's not a bad tracker."
"And while we're thinking about it, how about Colonel Gai Maito?" Jiraiya asked. "He's an odd one, but he's fast."
"Hm." Tsunade thought. "That's not a bad idea. I'd recommend Ino-Shika-Cho, but Commander Sarutobi relies on Shikaku for strategic advice. How many do we have now?" Tsunade mixed formula in a bottle for Naruto and put in the microwave.
"Kakashi, Gai, Asuma, Kurenai, and Anko," Jiraiya said. "That's five. Do we need more?"
"We could ask the commander if he can spare Shisui," Tsunade said.
"Shisui as in Shisui Uchiha the little helicopter pilot?" Jiraiya asked.
"He could cover big distances if we get a tip," Tsunade said.
"How about we just ask to have him available?" Jiraiya asked. "That kid is better off running missions for Commander Sarutobi than for us."
"Point," Tsunade said. Naruto started crying. "I know you're hungry, sweetie, but the microwave only works so fast." Naruto pouted and continued crying.
"I know, it's disappointing, isn't it?" Jiraiya said to Naruto. "Don't worry. When you get older, you'll be able to snack, and I'll introduce you to the wonders of ramen."
"Are you going to turn him into a ramen addict like his mother?" Tsunade asked.
"Of course," Jiraiya said. "I promised Minato that I'd bring him up properly, so I'll make sure he tastes his first ramen early."
Tsunade shook her head and took Naruto's bottle out of the microwave. She picked up the little boy and offered it to him. The hungry little boy immediately grabbed onto it with his chubby little hands and drank. "You know, technically you're the godfather. You should be the one doing this," she said.
"You're the godmother," Jiraiya said.
"Says who?" Tsunade asked.
"We're a package deal, remember? You know, it's no wonder everyone who doesn't know us thinks we're married."
Tsunade's face darkened. "You know that my heart belongs only to Dan," she said as memories of her late boyfriend flashed through her mind.
"I know," Jiraiya said. "I may have once thought of you as a romantic option, but you've been my sister for a long time."
"I'm glad," Tsunade said. In her arms, Naruto seemed to sense her unhappiness and stopped drinking his milk to look up at her. "It's ok, Naruto," Tsunade said. "We'll help you get big and strong so that you can help us put an end to this war forever." At this, Naruto giggled and started drinking again.
"It's like he can understand us," Jiraiya said.
"I'll bet somewhere deep in his mind he can," Tsunade said. "You know, I should teach Shizune about medicine."
"That came out of the blue," Jiraiya said as he opened his computer to type up the nominations for trackers.
"I guess," Tsunade said. "I was thinking about Dan, and Shizune's his niece. If anything, I should pay for her to go to school so that she can go into medicine."
"Don't forget to get her opinion too," Jiraiya said as he typed.
"Jiraiya! Are you writing one of those S-rank novels again?" Tsunade asked. "And in front of Naruto, too!"
"I'm typing those nominations," Jiraiya protested. "And Naruto's two months old. He wouldn't understand anyway."
"Maybe not, but if we're going to raise him right, we're going to keep every single orange book that you publish locked away."
"If he grows up to be anything like Kushina, he'll find those and be asking us awkward questions when he's Itachi's age," Jiraiya said.
"All the better reason for you to stop writing them," Tsunade said.
"Hey, those books are a major part of our income!" Jiraiya said defensively.
"Jiraiya, we're both paid the amount a general is paid," Tsunade said. "We have a lot of income without your little novels."
Jiraiya pouted. "I'm not even writing one, and I'm getting yelled at," he said.
So the Uchiha family gets three spirits. It's kinda strange, yes, but let's say the spirits can sense who will be a good vessel. Or, in Itachi's case, it was just sealed inside. Who thought that Itachi would end up having Illness? I bet a lot of you thought Pein would get the Pain spirit…
Yeah, I don't know what the age difference between Shisui and Itachi is, but for the sake of this story, let's say that he's six years older than him. Yes, he's an eleven year old piloting a helicopter. Hey, if canon Itachi could murder his clan at thirteen and canon Shisui is for sure a renowned and trusted ninja, then this Shisui can be a little freak and fly a helicopter. No, Commander Sarutobi is not out of his mind. It's just wartime, and crazy, adventurous Shisui volunteered.
As a side note, yay for Jiraiya-Tsunade-Naruto family time! Please leave feedback, and if you didn't already play the spirit-vessel guessing game, the names are in the last chapter. Until next time!