AN: don't own Naruto! Thank you for all the reviews, including the guest and return ones! I hope you like the next chapter and feel free to review! Happy 2017!

Chapter 3: To Fuin or not to Fuin

Upon entering Uzushiogakure, there was one feeling that was dominant in Kachiki's mind: sorrow. She was so upset that people had the capacity to hate, to fear so much that the largest shinobi force known to man banded together to destroy her ancestral home. In each step they take further into the village Kachiki can feel the remnants of chakra of her ancestors, in the dormant seals waiting to be used, in the nature chakra that seems to be brimming with life

Kachiki spent many days with Kimi-kun and Chichiue cleaning up the bodies that were decomposing on the ground, sweeping up debris, and burying the dead. It made Kachiki rage when Chichiue told her that it was strange that no Konoha shinobi had come to assist in the cleanup; the two hidden villages were allies, and Utakata knows because of the last world war that they wear the crest of the Uzumaki, although in red, to honour their fallen brethren. Kachiki is angry for days after that until Utakata points out that no one has entered Uzushiogakure since its destruction and subsequent fall. Chichiue says this could be because the fuinjutsu or seals, that the attacking three nations took down, were restarted and do not allow entry to anyone that isn't an Uzumaki.

Kachiki and Kimi-kun investigated this and found out it was true. If they left Uzushiogakure, Kachiki could enter and Kimi-kun could not unless Kachiki pulled him over. The seals recognized that an Uzumaki wanted them to have entrance. No one had seen this type of sentience in seals since the fall of Uzushiogakure. This made Kachiki believe that there was a traitor in Uzushiogakure because if Konoha, who had two seal masters currently, were not able to get in, she really doubts that the other villages, with no seal masters, would be able to break them down. Konoha has had much more time with no success. A voice in her head sniped that it was possible that Konoha long ago gave up on Uzushiogakure and Kachiki grudgingly accepted it as truth.

However, this phenomenon is what caught Kachiki's interest to study fuinjutsu. Imagine what would be possible if she was on this level! Talking with Chichiue and Kimi-kun about this decision is what fueled her studies. Chichiue told her that they would try to stay as long as possible. They've spent a year getting comfortable, making a more permanent camp, and trying to make this ghost village at peace, no one would be able to find them and they might actually be able to live in peace.

Digging into the clan archives, which, despite the fight you could see remaining signs of outside, was immaculate inside. Kimi found that both he and Chichiue could not go past the entrance. Even Kachiki trying to pull them in did nothing. She hypothesized that it was Uzumaki only.

Months were spent learning the prerequisites to fuinjutsu – starting with calligraphy. Of course, given her unorthodox childhood, a lot of that was spent on learning to read and write in the first place. Chichiue explained that in the shinobi academy, students were taught the basics of reading and writing as well as arithmetic. Kimi had then mentioned rumors of the culling of each graduation class. Chichiue impressed upon them that it was mostly a rumor – yes it did happen in Zabuza-senpai's tenure at the academy and he actually killed the entire graduating class to prove his worth – but no. It is true; however, that Kirigakure took advantage of this and only sends out one graduated class to foreign chunin exams, as if there was ever only one survivor. The majority actually graduate and go straight into apprenticeships. Kiri doesn't really do teams like Konoha, only sending in similar genins together for a chance at chunin. The system in Kiri is tailored much more to the individual. Apprenticeships are much more common and their shishou's actually make their case for a rise in rank. The remaining 60% of graduates actually go (now) into Yagura's personal forces, or a more general pool of genin until they rank up.

The biggest boon to being an Uzumaki and learning fuinjutsu was their chakra. Their vast amounts made the shadow clone jutsu nearly effortless. It was highly suggested to learn this before learning harder fuinjutsu. Once she read what exactly this specific clone jutsu did – given to the Uzumaki specifically from the Nidaime Hokage! – she jumped at the chance to be able to retain the knowledge she could gain from clones.

After a week spent mastering the clone jutsu, she sent off a dozen of them to ransack the various storage rooms to gather fuinjutsu that she could learn. Especially the ones that the Nidaime Hokage gave back to Uzushiogakure before its fall. The hiraishin seemed interesting and very useful, but it was the hiraishingiri that made her want to learn it. Being able to attack instantaneously with a sword would be ideal. There was a petty part of her that also wanted to be greater than Kiri with a sword.

She threw herself into her studies, giving a dozen clones to practice calligraphy, another dozen to practice chakra control, while she practiced taijutsu with Kimi and kenjutsu with Chichiue.

It wasn't until near her eight birthday that she felt she was ready to start learning true fuinjutsu.

Chichiue remarked that it was probably her Uzumaki heritage that let her take fuinjutsu like a duck to water.

Kachiki absolutely adored that she could do anything with fuinjutsu. And she meant anything. The Uzumaki used it in everyday technologies, in combat, in defence, in mundane tasks. There was a seal for everything. According to history, nearly everyone in Uzushiogakure was proficient in some form of fuinjutsu. That was what made them so feared throughout the elemental nations. No one could touch them if they didn't want to be touched.

Here was when Kachiki believed that the voice in her head was right. If there wasn't a traitor then no one would have ever entered Uzushiogakure. Ever.

The years flew by, Kimi and Kachiki grew stronger. It was fairly easy to become ridiculously strong when you have 6 years to solely train. Kachiki excelled in fuinjutsu, she mastered every technique and improved on many others. She's considered a master, and was probably the most knowledgeable in Uzumaki sealing since the fall of Uzushiogakure. She centered her fighting style around this, with thrown in aspect of kenjutsu and taijutsu. She utilizes her sensing techniques to become a superb assassin. She is the epitome of shinobi; she strikes when there is an opportunity and slinks off into the night. While she has the stamina to be a front line fighter, she only stays competent enough to hold her own. She thinks that if she has to take a life it will be in the quickest method possible. That was her main reasoning behind learning the hiraishingiri and hiraishin. There was no pride in death, and even less in being the killer. Front line specialists were much more in-your-face and used for shows of power. For her, there was no glory in taking a life, and so there was no reason to pretend to be anything else than an extension of the Shinigami skulking around in the dark. Team Chichiue, as Kachiki refers them as, uses the hiraishin to go to missions. They centre out of Takigakure, Kawagakure, and Kusagakure, taking missions to hone their skills but at the end of the day travelling back to Uzushiogakure to live.

For Kachiki, sensing is her life. She notices such small minutiae that it is as if she has super senses. The closest that Kachiki could describe it is similar to having be born blind to wake up one day and see – the sheer amount of stimulus is crazy and while it burns at the beginning Kachiki cannot remember what it is like not sensing. She can vaguely recall a life before sensing, but it was so vastly different from anywhere she's travelled to she chooses to ignore it – the languages in both memories were the same. They both wielded something similar to chakra, but much time has passed, to the point that Kachiki struggles to remember anything – not even having a chakra impression to go off of. Chichiue has begun to help her change the nature frequency of chakra – something that he thought was impossible but after realizing that Kachiki could correctly identify any shinobi that she met their chakra nature upon a glance, realized that there was some genetic component to chakra natures. If one had a genetic component, it would explain why some natures were easier to learn than others were. If Kachiki could alter her own frequency than hypothetically, she would find it easier to manipulate other elements.

The next step would be to do this to other enemies – imagine a lightening shinobi suddenly having the chakra of an earth shinobi – this was still a long ways off for Kachiki, but she was pleased to know she can continue to work on changing her own chakra frequency.

They also experimented with chakra constitution. Each technique that was used in ninjutsu had their nature chakra frequency, but the constitution would vary – slower or faster, the chakra seemed to hum in Kachiki's mind. She hypothesized that if she was able to match her chakra's constitution to an attack of whatever nature it would disintegrate or destroy the technique being used against her. Similar to how a positive plus a negative can give a neutral response. By having the same constitution grating against one another they would be seen as the same attack and it would cancel one another out. She has yet to gain the control to change constitution – changing frequency is hard enough, but Kachiki is determined to have this done within the next three years.

They've met up with Haku and Zabuza a few times, enough to be cordial to one another. Kachiki makes sure that Haku is given a hiraishin for safety reasons. Zabuza seems startled that Kachiki knows this jutsu. She tells him that it was in the Uzumaki archives and Zabuza mutters something along the lines of 'knew he was with red.' He then proceeded to tell them that this changes nothing and they will only call on them if they are in dire need. They promised they would come in mission attire either way so no one would be able to trace them together.

Kimi has become a menace to deal with on the battlefield. His body's regeneration capabilities paired with his kekkei genkai means that he is a close range fighter's worst enemy. He has mastered his bloodline, but still finds new uses for it. Chichiue made sure that if he is so proficient in taijutsu he must also practice something else. Kimi decided to specialize in ninjutsu as well considering Kachiki has all but abandoned that avenue. He knows that his sister, and that is what they all are now – a family, has no taste for violence. Others that see her during missions think that she is cold hearted and bloodthirsty – Kachiki doesn't wait for others to plead their case. She always will pause upon meeting them, as if she is talking to someone that is not there, then will either start talking to them or literally kill them. No one has noticed that whomever she talks to isn't guilty of the crime they've been accused of. Kimi asked her once what happened during those times. She said that she feels their chakra and can almost sense their amount of malevolence within them. If she feels that negative energy, she knows that they are responsible. It hasn't failed her yet.

The only thing that Chichiue has not explained to either of them was why they were so covered up. He knows that their father is a missing nin and would be hunted, but surely, they would not be as well? Kirigakure may want them dead for their bloodline but the rest of the elemental nations can't be like that? It was only when Yagura and Patches interacted more that the Purges started up. In the past years, there seemed to have been a lull in activity of Kiri – she suspects the rebellion has fully engaged and they are in an all-out civil war. In their mission attire, the three of them look like androgynous ghosts. All of them wear cloaks, Kachiki uses fuinjutsu to turn all their hair black, and a mask covers their faces. If Kimi knew all it would take was asking why he would have done it a lot sooner.

"What I am about to tell you is higher than an S-class secret. This is a matter of life and death, if anyone gathers information of what I am about to say it could mean my death. Do you understand?" Chichiue impressed upon them the severity of this discussion. Seeing both of us nods, Kachiki moves into a more attentive pose.

"This story starts before any of us were born. The Shodaime Hokage and Uchiha Madara formed the first shinobi village, Konohagakure. There was a race to have other clan's band together to form a village. This is where the five Kage villages were formed. To try and to promote peace the Shodaime found all nine bijuu and sealed them with the help of his Uzumaki wife and Uchiha Madara. They then gifted them to the other nations, as a symbol to deter war and promote peace. Over the years, this was forgotten. Madara used the Kyuubi to attack the Shodaime and suddenly everyone was training those that were sealed with the beasts, the jinchuriki, to use their beast as a weapon. When I was younger, I was sealed with the Saiken, the Rokubi. I was related to the previous Mizukage before Yagura and they usually seal a jinchuriki that is in some way related to the current power at the time. If anyone were to find out my true identity then there would be wars for Mizu no Kuni and Kirigakure to get their jinchuriki back. They still think I am wandering around Mizu no Kuni.

"But that's not all. Kimi, it is important that you are not found out, but very few people will remember the Kaguya. Your clan's coup was 6 years ago, and Kiri was in a civil war for nearly 15 years prior. Not many shinobi will be active and have knowledge about the Kaguya let alone their bloodline, which was dormant before you for centuries.

"Kachiki is the biggest problem here. Kachiki, I found you when you were days old in a bush. You father had abandoned you," here Chichiue hands over the letter that he found with Kachiki to her. He is silent and she reads it and wordlessly passes it to Kimi to read. "I took you in and raised you. You are Uzumaki and and jinchuriki, you hold the Kyuubi. I'm telling you this now because you are old enough to start using the Kyuubi's chakra should you decide to. I myself, found a comrade in Saiken and now I have full access to all six tails. It took me many years, so be prepared for an arduous journey should you chose it."

"Was my father a Kage if he sealed a bijuu in me?" Kachiki intoned solemnly.

"There is no true way to know that unless the Kyuubi knows it. Before you showed up, no one knew where the Kyuubi was. Everyone is under the impression that when the Hokage fought it, he killed it. I fear that the three of us are the only ones that know of the Kyuubi's existence."

Silence.

"My father isn't much of a father dattebane. If he just left me like this he doesn't deserve the title." Chichiue and Kimi nod their head in agreement, but Kachiki just plowed on. "I didn't even ask for this! I don't want to have a fox in my gut! I didn't ask for this! The Kyuubi sure as hell didn't ask for this! Why don't we get any say?! If I remove the seal, I die. I don't want this. I never wanted this!" Kachiki is on the ground pulling on her hair in aggravation.

"What is done is done, the most you can do is make friends with the Kyuubi." Chichiue consoles her the best he can.

"...that's not GOOD ENOUGH. The Kyuubi is a person too! He has feelings! I haven't talked to him but I can sure as hell tell you that he didn't want to be sealed up with no say in the matter! Mother died giving me life and my father think that stuffing me with a bijuu and abandoning me is the best plan?!" Kachiki is now pacing the length of their living room, her hair clipping her ankles as she walks. "My name was given to me by my kaa-chan. She told me to always be determined and unyielding. Fuinjutsu talks about if you don't like something, then change it. A kaze no fuin doesn't work for you? Try Kasai no fuin. The world is always changing but you're telling me Chichiue that jinchuriki have always been like this since their founding. Right?"

"Yes, but that is because there isn't another way to have bijuu sealed Kachiki."

"Exactly Dattebane!" She punches her fist into her palm for emphasis. "There isn't another way because people haven't looked for another way. I can find another way. I may not be able to release the seal without dying, but I am sure that if I tweak a few pre-existing fuinjutsu then I will be able to solve this problem. I'm going to solve this if it kills me!" Kachiki runs off into her workshop to no doubt draft some ideas.

oOo

It took her two months.

One month to contact the Kyuubi and actually talk about the seal. Kyuubi was not amicable.

She remembered waking up in what Chichiue called a mindscape, a mental area for a jinchuriki to talk to their bijuu.

oOo

Kachiki's mindscape was what she always thought Uzushiogakure would look like in its prime. Shining at sunset, gleaming reds of the sky and sun highlighting all the different stone that were found during their rummage: greens, blues, yellows, any colour you could think of was found in their walls, etched with fuins of varying difficulties. It was breathtaking. She only wished that she could have seen it in real life.

Kachiki continued to walk the main path of the village until she hit the centre, seeing a large building that she just knew housed the Kyuubi.

She entered to see dim lighting, red eyes, and nine tails fluttering around him. This felt very familiar and she took the fact that the Kyuubi was sleeping to think about why. It took her a while, but she remembers the feel of his chakra and reasons that she has had him with her entire life so of course his chakra would be familiar. Drawing down into a bow, she began talking to the Kyuubi.

"Ohayo. I'm Uzumaki Kachiki, your jinchuriki. I'm 12 years old, I like my Chichiue Utakata – he has Saiken, and my older brother, Aniki – Kimimaro, but I just call him Kimi. I don't like being told I can't do something, being caged, and killing. My goal right now is to free you without killing me. I'm in your care Kyuubi-sama."

A single red eye opens, piercing Kachiki to stay in place.

"You, a ningen, free me? The only way I am going to get out of this seal is if I claw myself out from it. You are not the first ningen to trap me, and you won't be the last." He dismissed my words as if he didn't just trample all over my dreams.

"Listen up Kyuubi-sama! I know you don't like me, and you have no reason to – but you shouldn't give up just because everyone else you knew was rotten! My father gave me away because I was a jinchuriki; I grew up in the Bloody Mist during the bloodline purges! I know how humans have a large capacity for evil! Believe me I know, but that doesn't mean everyone is horrible dattebane!" Her fists are clenched as she progresses in her speech.

"That may be ningen, but you don't deserve to use my chakra. You ningen are all the same – you take the chakra of my siblings and I and for what? To wage wars. You are but a kit and know nothing of the world. Leave me."

"I don't believe that. I may be young, but I know the cruelty of humans, of ningens. I will find a way to let you have freedom as we are both stuck like this. I didn't ask for this and neither did you. This seal is causing your death slowly. I don't want to be responsible for any more deaths than I need to be. I already have enough chakra – I don't need more. You have to be lonely here and if I figure out a way, Saiken can be with you at least. You'll also have me. And Kimi, and Chichiue!" The Kyuubi huffs before staring at her. The silence creeps on and it has been minutes before the Kyuubi sighs and huffs.

"Kurama."

"What?"

"My name, kit. It is Kurama. You remind me of the old man. If you succeed with me and Saiken, I may just tell you about him."

"Arigato Kurama, I won't let you down or else I'm not Uzumaki Kachiki!"

oOo

A month later and it was finally the day. She has combined and refined, many times, a projection fuin, which originally allows pictures to come off a page like a movie, with a transmutation fuin, that changes an object into something else of equal value, with a distance limiter fuin, that only allowed something that was linked to Kachiki's chakra to travel a certain distance, and a size fuin – depending on the chakra flow would grow bigger or smaller.

This would either go perfectly, or go horribly and probably kill everyone here. However, her name wouldn't be Uzumaki Kachiki if she just gave up.

Drawing up the fuin and making sure there were no mistake took a little over two days. Inspecting it for no flaws took longer than the actual drawing of the fuin.

Ready? She thought to Kurama in her head.

Either way I would get to leave this damned seal. He was ready. Kachiki slams her hands in the middle of fuin and everything lights up. She can feel the chakra from the fuin slink up her arms and legs and slide into the seal over her stomach to blend into the pre-existing script. No one was crazy enough to alter a bijuu's seal. That's why jinchuriki's have been the same since Hashirama's time. However, she wasn't really changing the seal – it was more like stepping to the right to avoid a puddle (common sense if you asked Kachiki). Kachiki was crazy enough. In theory, the projection fuin would give Kurama his mental link; the transmutation fuin would give his chakra a physical form. The only reason there would be a distance limiter and a size fuin was so Kurama would remain with her and not attract too much attention, Kimi also told her that people might get nervous if Kurama was suddenly wandering the Nations.

Her eyes were closed, but the light was so bright that it was searing the inside of her eyes. She could feel the fuin was finished and she laid on the now barren ground and just focused on breathing and trying to see.

Minutes passed and she could feel Chichiue and Kimi restlessly pacing around the defensive barrier she placed prior to the sealing.

She slowly opens her eyes, glancing to the side to see a large fox lazing around, staring at everything around him, taking in the world for the first time in Kami knows how long. Kachiki gets up and starts to dismantle the barrier when he speaks.

"And pray why, ningen, do you think I would let you live after this? I could slit your throat and be done with you before anyone could come help you." He emphasizes his point by opening his jaw and surrounding my neck with it. The killing intent of Kurama flows out of him and Kachiki is surprised at how much she is unaffected. She has been living with this grump for 12 years. She supposes that with the close contact with his chakra that she can tell when he is pulling his punches. He definitely is right now.

"I know you can kill me six ways to Sunday before I changed the seal. Should you decide to kill me I won't be able to stop you. But I trust that you wouldn't do that Kurama. You've become my precious person just like Kimi and Chichiue. I trust you." A snort and Kurama sags back to the ground, not even bothering to respond. I continue to dismantle the barrier.

oOo

Kachiki has had a lot of time to reflect on her family. Specifically her biological family. She knows that her mother died in childbirth. But her father is a whole other matter. She doesn't understand why he would let her be sealed but then give her up. It doesn't make sense to her. Upon learning that she has the Kyuubi – and he wasn't even supposed to be alive – the Yondaime Hokage has supposedly killed it, then she can guess who her father is. Kurama confirms that Namikaze Minato was the one that sealed him in her and, apparently her twin brother.

She really doesn't like to actively hate people, so she learns to get over it – or at least only hate him if she ever meets him. Keeping a twin brother and leaving the sister just isn't right. Kiri doesn't even separate twins, let alone siblings, thinking them stronger together – the demon brothers as one example. She won't ever go looking for her father despite her wanting to know why she was abandoned like last week's trash in the middle of Kiri, but she resigns herself to never knowing.

As much as she wants to hate her tou-chan, she knows that if he never did what he did she would never have met Utakata – her Chichiue, Kimi – her aniki, she most definitely would not have had the circumstances to alter Kurama's seal, and she would not be able to have the chance to help Chichiue's partner Saiken. For her, knowing the consequences of his actions changed her future so much; she doesn't regret that she was left alone. Maybe even thankful for him, because she doesn't regret where she is now, and if she was raised as a Kage's child she could imagine the pedestal she would be put on and the pressure to succeed in the shinobi forces.

Her childhood wasn't even that bad. Yes she had to grow up much faster and was nearly killed every day (if not by the mobs hunting during the purge then surely almost by Chichiue's training), but she doesn't think it was bad. Surely not enough to want to change it. Her home always has been with Chichiue and now with Kimi that she doesn't care where she goes as long as those two are with her. She loves Uzushiogakure and would easily stay here for the rest of her life.

While her tou-chan may have been worse than scum, she cannot help but be thankful that he inadvertently gave her her current family.

oOo

Another week and Saiken has physically joined the group. Though he much prefers to stay chibi-size and lounge on Chichiue's shoulder. Kurama prefers to be the size of a small horse and trots next to Kachiki much like a ninken.

Kachiki is 12, Kimi 15, and Chichiue 23 when they decide that they need to spice things up a bit. They have a sense of wanderlust and can feel the itch under their skin to be more active. Sparring and training with one another gets boring after so many years, and by now Kachiki has outgrown the archives and can do her fuinjutsu on the road. They done their mission gear and head toward Yugakure.

They're not on the main land for more than half a day when Kachiki alerts them to Haku's hiraishin fuin has been activated.

Everyone latches onto Kachiki, Saiken and Kurama shrinking down to sit on their junchuriki's shoulders and in the next instant, they are on a bridge in the middle of Nami.