Yuiko returned to a state of pure pandemonium. It seemed that everyone had been able to release themselves from the Water Prison jutsu, but over a dozen sharks were still flopping and snapping at them over the grass.
"Get back!" Yamato shouted. Motoi and Naruto retreated into the trees. Aoba, Guy, and B were nowhere to be seen.
Yamato slammed his palm onto the grass. A series of wooden spears shot up from the ground, skewering the sharks. The clearing was clouded in grey smoke as the summons disappeared.
"Yuiko!" Yamato called out. Yuiko watched as his silhouette grew more defined through the smoke. He stopped before her, his eyes glancing over her bloody arm before returning to her face. Yuiko lowered her eyes, shaking her head. Yamato exhaled deeply. "B was able to free himself shortly before I did," he said. "I'm not clear on the details, but I think he ran off after something. Hopefully he caught up to it."
"Is everyone alright?" Yuiko asked, following Yamato as he turned around and walked back into the clearing.
"For the most part," Yamato said. Naruto and Motoi had jumped down from the trees, and Aoba appeared from the tree line with Guy's arm slung over his shoulder. Aoba gently put Guy down in the grass, his companion yelping in pain.
"Uh, Captain Yamato?" Naruto asked. "Is Bushier Brow-Sensei going to be okay?"
Guy's face was frozen in a look of extreme discomfort. Yamato knelt down next to him, Naruto and Yuiko joining him.
"I don't see any bite marks," Yuiko said, her brow furrowed.
"No, it's not that," Yamato stated. "The after effects of the Eight Inner Gates are starting to kick in. During that time, his entire nervous system becomes overly sensitive; even the slightest touch will cause him extreme pain."
"Really?" Naruto said. He put out a finger, lowering it slowly toward Guy's chest.
"Naruto!" Yuiko snapped, causing Naruto to pull back his finger with a flinch. "Show some respect! Even if he did open an unknown scroll, completely bypassing standard safety protocols, leading to vital information being leaked to the enemy —"
"Yuiko!" Yamato yelped.
"What?" she said flatly, looking down to see that her hands were moving of their own accord as they pulled at Guy's cheeks. Guy gurgled softly, having passed out from the pain. "Oops," she said, releasing her grip.
"Maybe it will be better if the two of you go after B," Yamato sighed. Naruto and Yuiko got to their feet, but at that moment B emerged from the tree line.
Aoba and Motoi had retreated to the other end of the clearing for a hushed conversation out of Naruto's earshot. Their whispering stopped when Motoi spotted B. "How did it go?" he asked as B walked past him.
"Not good, fool. Ya fool," B said, slightly dejected. "That shark gave me the slip; didn't even have the chance to catch it in my grip!"
Yuiko and Yamato exchanged a worried glance. A major intel leak happening on Day 1 of their time on the island wasn't making the situation look good by any means.
—
"This isn't going to work," Yuiko whispered.
"It has to," Yamato replied. They stood a few feet away, watching as Aoba outlined the fake S-Rank mission to Naruto.
Motoi had returned to the lodge to deal with the security breach. He seemed irritated, but he assured them that there was a backup plan and not to worry. In the meantime, Naruto was starting to ask questions about Kisame's appearance and the jōnin decided that now would be a good time to distract him by outlining his "mission".
The fake mission boiled down to Naruto conducting an ecological survey of the animals on the island, creating a report on which of them could be used to fight in the upcoming war. In other words, it was completely ridiculous.
"This is the best you came up with?" Yuiko asked dryly.
"The only other thing this island has a lot of other than dangerous animals are trees. And I couldn't come up with an S-Rank mission involving those," Yamato replied.
"He's not an idiot; he'll figure it out," Yuiko said.
They looked on in silence as Aoba finished reading aloud the "outline" of the mission to Naruto. Yuiko wasn't positive, but she had a feeling that the scroll he was reading from was blank. They watched Naruto intently, waiting for his reaction.
Naruto bowed his head. Yamato sucked air through his teeth, kicking himself for not coming up with something more convincing.
"This is …" Naruto finally said, raising his head, "this is the kind of brainy mission I've been waiting for! Granny Tsunade gets it! She wants to test my leadership skills!"
A beat of silence passed as the jōnin stared at him. Yuiko brought her hand to her mouth, turning away slightly. "I swear I only dropped him once when he was a baby," she mumbled. "That couldn't have done anything though, right?"
"Huh?" Yamato said.
"Uh, nothing," she blurted, turning back to him. Naruto was throttling Aoba with a rapid-fire of follow-up questions, the Jōnin chuckling nervously as he tried to conjure up convincing answers. He was currently trying to tell Naruto that, no, the animals didn't need to be divided by weight class. Or breed. But if he wanted to categorize if they can understand human speech or not — sure, why not?
Yamato was failing at hiding his amusement, glad that Naruto was facing away from him. Every now and then Aoba would glance over for assistance, but Yamato would simply wave for him to continue.
Sensing that Naruto would be running off soon, Yuiko walked over to where Guy was resting in the grass. She knelt down, gently helping him sit up and having him put his arms around her shoulders as she lifted him on her back. The constant pain he was in left Guy swimming in and out of consciousness, but despite all that he abhorrently refused to be taken back to the lodge. It was foolish, but Guy stubbornly stuck to his conviction of looking after Naruto. It wasn't like Yuiko would be doing much anyway, so she didn't mind shuttling him around.
"So, what now?" Yuiko asked, adjusting her grip on Guy's legs as she stepped back up to Yamato.
"We sit tight," Yamato shrugged. "Like Motoi mentioned earlier, the island is being relocated to the Kumogakure region because of the intel leak. We're expected to arrive around the time the divisions are to move out. We'll receive further instructions then."
Yuiko noted the change in Yamato's voice when he mentioned the divisions. They didn't speak for a moment as they watched Naruto dash excitedly off into the forest. "Does it bother you," she said, "that we'll be here, while everyone else is fighting out there?"
"Of course," Yamato said grimly. "But what I'm doing here is important, too. The three of you being kept away from the Akatsuki is an integral piece to winning this war. Besides, I'm used to looking after the two of you by now."
Yuiko smiled. "Oh, so would you say we're 'growing on you'?"
Yamato shot her an incredulous look. "Funny. I've never heard that one before."
"It's because you use Wood-Style!"
"Yeah, I got that," he said with a chuckle as they walked out of the clearing.
—
Yuiko gazed off into the distance of the immense stone room. Motoi had suggested that Naruto conduct the 'ecological survey' within the shell of the giant turtle that was the island. Considering everything else that had happened that day, finding out that the island was actually a living creature didn't shock her as much as it normally would have.
The great walls of the turtle's shell seemed to stretch on forever — which turned out to be a good thing since the number and size of all of the animals present required a lot of room.
Yuiko had set Guy down again as soon as they were settled. Yamato, Motoi, and Aoba were chatting about nothing in particular near the room's entrance. Yuiko had started feeling antsy standing still, and excused herself for a stroll around the interior of the shell. She gnawed at the fingernail of her right thumb as she walked; Yuiko didn't like being idle. She had kept herself preoccupied since getting to the island, which had helped, but the familiar, dull ache was starting to creep back into her chest.
'Maybe you didn't know me as well as you thought.'
Yuiko crossed her arms, digging her nails into her skin. Did she really miss something? She must have. She never asked Kakashi about where he went when he would disappear for half the day. She never asked him where he had been when he would arrive late. She never brought up the look of hurt he had on his face when she caught him looking up at the Hokage monument.
I was too scared.
Yuiko wasn't an idiot. She knew what the answer was to all of those questions. It was the reason she showed him the memorial stone after Pain's attack. She knew that Kakashi was holding on to the ghosts of his past, mourning their deaths over a decade later. And she knew he did it alone. But she never asked, because there was one question she didn't want to know the answer to: an answer that could be the reason why Kakashi didn't love her.
What did you feel during the thirteen years you looked down at Noboru's grave thinking that I had killed him?
A soft song of rustling leaves filled her ears. Yuiko let out the breath she didn't realize she was holding as Kokuō nudged at her consciousness.
I'm alright, Kokuō. Thank you.
"I'll always be here, little mouse," Kokuō said gently. "Remember you are not alone."
I know. I'm sorry. I'll talk to you about it later … I'm not quite ready yet.
Warmth washed over Yuiko like someone had thrown a plush blanket over her shoulders. Yuiko smiled as the tension in her chest slowly faded away.
Suddenly, the ground beneath her began to rumble, then jerked to the side, causing everyone — man and beast — to fall to the floor.
"What's going on?!" she yelled to Yamato, who was getting to his feet along with Aoba and Motoi in the distance.
Yamato didn't answer, glancing quickly at Naruto then tilting his head as an indication for her to come over. She rushed to them, phasing through a few of the animals that had fallen in her path.
"The barrier has been breached," she heard Motoi saying as she came closer. "I didn't think they would find us so soon."
There was another rumble, followed by Yuiko being forced flat upon the floor as it rose toward her. A few seconds later the force weakened and Yuiko had to funnel chakra into her hands and knees to remain stuck to the stone. She whipped her head around, trying to stay focused among the rubble and screaming animals flying around her. She looked down, noting that the ceiling was now the floor.
The island … flipped?
Yuiko looked around, spotting a familiar flash of green. She launched herself from the stone and grabbed on to Guy, who yelped as she fastened his arms around her shoulders.
"This will hurt!" she yelled, bracing herself for impact. Beneath them, a full forest of trees sprouted rapidly from the ground. Yuiko landed upon a newly-formed tree branch, which bent back as it absorbed the impact of their fall. Guy cried out in pain, but the impact was far less than it would have been without the tree's assistance. She leapt to the floor, grateful that the layer of grass covering it helped to absorb their landing. She put Guy down as gingerly as possible, and then looked up as Yamato, Motoi, and Aoba approached from the trees. "This was you?" she asked, gesturing to the forest around her as she rose to her feet.
"Mmm," Yamato nodded, studying Guy. "Is he alright?"
"I think so," Yuiko replied, putting her hands on her hips as she glanced about, her eyes landing on Naruto. He was, miraculously, still absorbed in conducting the ecological survey. B sat near him, casually chatting with Naruto over something having to do with a giant armadillo.
"Something must have happened outside," Motoi said, looking sternly up at the ceiling. "But, we have to keep fooling him. We cannot allow any of the jinchūriki to leave this place."
"Really?" Yuiko said, prickling. "If we're under attack, I'm not just going to sit here and do nothing. I'm under obligation to protect him too, you know."
"That's not how this works, Yuiko," Yamato said.
Yuiko's eyes flashed as she scowled at him. "We're still on the island!" she hissed. "As long as we're here, I should be able to follow the same mission objectives as you all."
A guilty look fell over Yamato's face. "The rest of us have a different mission objective than you do."
Anger bubbled in Yuiko's gut. She didn't need to be coddled. Naruto had to be kept in the dark because he was impulsive, but there was no reason she needed to be. There was no reason Lady Tsunade had to go behind her back and undermine her authority on this mission. "I'm second in command of this unit," Yuiko stated.
"For protecting Naruto, you are," Yamato said frankly.
"So then —"
"For protecting all of the jinchūriki," Yamato cut in, "you are not."
The betrayal cut deep. Naruto wasn't the only one who had been handed a false mission. Hers wasn't a complete farce, per say, but the fact that neither Lady Tsunade nor Yamato thought she would be capable of protecting Naruto without also putting herself at risk stung. They had only intended for her to be under the impression of being second in command unless a real threat emerged.
Yuiko grit her teeth. "You can't tell me th —"
"Ah, Naruto!" Aoba said loudly, cutting through their argument as Naruto approached.
Yamato's gaze left Yuiko as he swiftly transformed his expression into a forced grin. "Some weird tremors we're having, huh?" he asked lightly.
"Yeah," Naruto said doubtfully. "But, the world turned upside-down …"
"Oh, it's rare, but that just happens here sometimes!" Yamato laughed, a little too loudly.
"Really?" Naruto said, his eyes landing on Yuiko. She flinched, looking away.
"I think," he said, "I'm going to take a look outside."
"You can't!" Yamato said, bringing his face closer to Naruto's. "You're on an important S-Rank mission! It's a shinobi's duty to see a mission through until completion!" He moved closer, staring intently. "And this is a mission that only you can do, Naruto!"
Naruto swallowed heavily, nodding his head.
"Good!" Yamato exclaimed, straightening up. "Aoba, Motoi, and I will go check it out while you continue your mission. Yuiko will also stay behind to look after Guy, if you need any assistance."
"Right!" Naruto said, the enthusiasm coming back into his voice. He ran back to the animals, waving his clipboard in the air as he worked to calm them down.
Yamato's smile vanished the instant Naruto turned his back to them. He looked at Yuiko, his brow furrowed. "You're staying here," he said. "If whatever is out there is strong enough to get past us, you and B will be the second line of defense. Understand?"
Yuiko frowned, her fingers digging into the flesh of her crossed arms. Following Yamato's orders had been ingrained into her at this point, but she had a sinking feeling in her stomach that she couldn't ignore. "If things get bad, I could just phase through the turtle ..."
"No, Yuiko," Yamato said flatly. "I need you to be with me on this. Promise me you will not leave this area until the threat is over."
He stared her down until she dropped her eyes to the ground. "I won't leave," she said, reluctant.
"Good. I knew I could depend on you," he said with a smirk. "Let's go," he motioned to Motoi and Aoba, the three of them taking off to the entrance.
Yuiko sat down next to Guy with a huff. She focused her attention on Naruto, trying to ignore the gnawing feeling in her stomach.
