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Chapter two: Upwelling
"Today you are shinobi. Today the weight all ninja bare is passed onto the children we once protected," The Kage passed in front of each new shinobi carefully pouring a bit of liquid into their cups, "today you are no longer children, you are weapons, the shields on the back of every civilian."
The children stared forward unmoving, their fingers trembling as their leader walked before them, their hearts filling with each cup. The ichor of the Dragon Turtle was not something you could be unsure of, not something that was to be passed around with little thought.
"We are strong, we are many, and we are one." He paused, his eyes lingering on each child, "May you forever be as steady as the Turtle and as strong as the Dragon."
Everyone drank their cup dry, their stomachs heaving as they struggled to keep it down.
Two children died that night, their throats closing and their eyes wide with rejection. They would say that the ichor found hesitation in their hearts, their deaths would be mourned but not regretted.
It's interesting, the things an Uzumaki does for sentimentality. They cling to a unity that holds them separate from most hidden villages, they are all a people, they are all a tide. It becomes something like nature itself, the rain falls from the clouds above and an Uzumaki will never let go of anything. Tradition, deaths, love, and grudges; they were people that held them all in a death grip with nails that dug into palms.
It comes as no surprise, then, that the Uzumaki have as many traditions and rituals as they do bonds. Tatsu's mother had always been the type to give thanks for the crops through offerings to whatever God inhabited the shrines she built, a tradition passed onto her from her father.
There is something cathartic in routine, something freeing in giving yourself to a tradition or belief. In the event of a tragedy, many Uzumaki seek out a rebirth. In some, they are cast into the whirlpools themselves, expected to survive the rapids if they wished to be reborn. There are steps, of course, one goes through. It is oftentimes, however, that when one has been scorned by violence, an Uzumaki will turn to calmer currents in hopes their new life will contain the same tranquility.
First, you shave the head, they say that all your life is stored in the length of your hair. Red hair once a warning like the colors of a dart frog now nothing but pale scalp.
Then you choose your rebirth, your methods, and dreams.
The seawater rushed in the small lagoon behind the cliff, a lazy current seventy-five meters below.
"Tatsu Uzumaki, daughter of Isana and Rinjirou, as the eyes of night bare witness you will be reborn." Hisa lifted her hand dragging her finger down the center of the other woman's face, the stars blinked far above their head, "By the will of the sea all that you have been shall be washed away and all that will remain is your core." She stepped forward, scooping a handful of seawater from the bowl at her side and dropping it onto Tatsu's head, "Tatsu, daughter of none, tonight you fall. Tatsu, shinobi of Uzushiogakure, tonight you rise."
And then you fall.
They didn't look away from one another, Tatsu stepped back. They didn't look away until they simply couldn't maintain eye contact anymore, she plunged from the cliff, the rock side a blur as she hurtled through the air towards the lagoon below.
When you rise again there will be someone new, when you rise again one will die and the other will live on, reborn. Same name, same face, new soul.
The water was cold and dark, the current wilder than Tatsu had predicted. It picked her up and carried her away immediately disorienting her. The interesting thing about the sea is how easy it was to get lost in it, not sure which way was up or down, not even sure that you were not a part of the water yourself.
Her shoulder hit the sandy bottom as the current dragged her through seagrass, it was easy from there to kick off of form it and begin her ascent to the surface. There was a panic somewhere deep inside of her, something wild and unsure clawing up her spine making her movements just as chaotic.
Those who have nearly died by it say drowning is the most painful way to die, that your lungs scream for air gulping in mouthfuls of water in a desperate attempt to breathe until your body simply gives up. It's at that moment, for a brief second, you feel like you are home.
In that water the daughter of Isana and Rinjirou died, lungs full of water and eyes glassy, the woman who broke the surface with a rasping cough mewed like a newborn babe.
Born again; a figure floating over bleached corals, Tatsu swam to shore.
It's difficult to build something when you only have the faintest idea of how to do it. A web had to be spun, a careful work of art that encompassed all of Uzushiogakure and her sister villages. The small villages Shisei and Sato were the easiest to gain some information while Mira and Inaka were probably the hardest. Tatsu started with the simple folk, offering her abilities in exchange for their loyalty. Each person was another string, another source.
She had old women knee-deep in gossip, housewives, and fishermen, she even managed to pull in a merchant or two in exchange for seals. It was difficult keeping track of all of the members of her small network, hard to keep everyone in order. It got to the point she began keeping a book, a log of all of the different things each person had to say with its protective seals.
She investigated each rumor, checked each lead and when her test came to an end she sat before her leader and devolved all the information she had gathered.
"The people in the north are planning a rebellion against their village leader, he seems to be ignoring their voices completely. The crops to the south have been doing poorly, we will have to try to find another to trade with this coming winter. There are a few gangs, all of which would be easily dismantled should they start causing issues," she leaned forward pressing the tips of her fingers against the words in her book, "looking at the market, with the way that things have been going in the south we will likely be facing some sort of inflation."
"Is that all?"
"It's all the important information. There, of course, are a few small things here or there, but they will not impact the village."
"I see."
There was silence for a moment, the only sound the clanking of the Kachūkage pouring them both tea with smooth movements. Tatsu's mouth was dry and her palms sweaty as she counted her heartbeats waiting for her leader's verdict. She had done everything she knew to do, she hoped it was enough.
"I'm going to be blunt," he leaned back in his chair watching her over the fold of his fingers, "you missed three spies we know exist in Shisei as well as the rumors the Konoha shinobi dug up about the uprising happening in the Daimyō's court."
Her heart dropped, "I didn't realize I would be spreading out that far."
"The other spymaster heard wind of it here first." He sipped his tea watching her through the rising steam before sighing, "Are you done now, Tatsu?"
There were a lot of things that she wanted to do at that moment, one part of her wanted to throw her tea at the Kachūkage, another wanted to simply cry, she settled on a sharp bow as she left the room.
Start with the merchants.
The village provided a lot of sealing tags for people, storage scrolls, explosion tags, etc. There was, of course, the storage area that is available to Tatsu.
Once that is settled, she can begin traveling and setting a few roots herself, her network had to be careful and loyal. She had to put herself into a position where she was invaluable. The weakest point of every village was their red-light district. Get in there, validate the whores and orphans, offer them food and money and a way of protection for themselves and you gain an entire treasure trove of information. Monks and monasteries were also good, spin a sob story and you easily gain a few friends that were willing to pass on a few words to a willing ear.
Tatsu could do this.
Her entire village didn't believe in her, made her into something she didn't want to be. They were gone now, scattered like flies, the only thing left of them that united them was the reds of their hair and the whites of their eyes.
But the sea knew them and Tatsu would find them.
Uzushiogakure may be broken, but it was still alive and Tatsu, well Tatsu would rebuild it single-handedly if she had to.
There was a gleam of teeth in the dark, a shiver down the spine of the unsuspecting as a body slid through the shadows.
"What do you want with us?" Matsuri whispered as she stood before a group of women. They were traveling, passing through the woods, the Madam had set up a trade with one of the other brothels in the town to the south of their own. 5 girls for 5 girls, fresh blood. Matsuri knew the way so she was tasked with traveling with the girls.
"Nothing," a woman with short red hair, maybe an inch in length, and bright emerald eyes that gleamed in the darkness stepped out of the shadows. She was stocky, with splotches of darker skin that Matusri could see on her hands, face, and neck.
She was average at best.
That is until she smiled. She smiled like she was sharing a secret with you, like you were special in a way you never dreamed of. It was a dangerous smile, one that set Matsuri on edge as she slowly stepped back from the other woman.
"I want nothing from you but what you are willing to give." The woman continued, pausing as if listening to something only she could hear, "that is of course if you are willing to hear me out."
Tatsu took to traveling like she took to swimming when she was a but a babe. It was easy, it was freeing, it was everything she needed in a time that was so uncertain.
Her favorite thing, other than the seas of her home, were the trees in the land of fire. It was so very different to see so much green instead of blue. She had grown up with sand and wild grass, their trees were tall but sparse and their crops hard to grow. They relied primarily on bananas and other tropical fruits as exports.
Here, though, the trees were dense, sounds echoing off the bark and mists clinging to the forest floor in the early mornings before the sun could slip its fingers between the canopy above. She swore sometimes she could taste the dirt, the smell of fresh grass and rich soil strong in the air around her.
She had at least one person in every major city in every nation, a madam, a monk, a poor mother with no way to protect her children. They were the outgroups, the people no one helped.
So, Tatsu helped them.
She offered them solstice, offered to train them in how to protect themselves. She amassed enough income with her seals that she could offer some of them money. But most of all she made herself look like one of them and whispered protections in their ears, sweet nothings, gained their empathy and became family to them.
She was disgusting and wonderful all in the same breath. A monster in her own right and yet she meant every word. She might not have had to sell her body like those in the brothel but she did as a shinobi in other ways. She might not dedicate herself to a craft or religion but she found passion in the arms of her village.
She was adjacent to them all in her own way, like them yet so very not.
Ultimately, she had power over them.
And she was drunk on it.
There are wind chimes in the window.
The light shines through bouncing off them and falling across the ground. Dust floats endlessly by, little specks, weightless.
Serenity.
A cat meows from the bushes outside and a butterfly lands on its nose, fluttering its wings once like a wink before floating away. The house creaks as it settles and inside things are still.
So very still.
The wind blows, the wind chimes ring, the curtains billow inward catching on an ugly red couch set on a simple rug in a simple living room. The radio drones on and on, repeating songs.
Sangfroid.
The curtains settle covering the ashen face of a girl, her hair spread out over the hardwood, her eyes staring endlessly up at the ceiling.
The wind chimes ring.
Tatsu stands with her back against the wall, her kunai gleaming as tears glistened in her eyes.
She couldn't take no for an answer.
Notes:
this story is uhh working on it. idk if im going to bother to finish it.