After showing off for Naruto and catching four largeish fish with an advanced combination of water ninjutsu and a chakra control exercise then delivered the flopping catch to Misaki, I spent the rest of the day with Naruto, exploring, training half-heartedly, sharing stories, and just generally forgetting about anything beyond the two of us.
We didn't go back for lunch or dinner, instead, I showed Naruto some of the plants Kushina and I used to take somewhat extreme risks for, rather than eat the much less appetizing food at the orphanage. What used to be dangerous and difficult without chakra was surprisingly easy. I could hold my breath for far longer and dive far deeper with the help of chakra. Naruto enjoyed attempting the challenge, but without the constant practice Kushina and I had at his age, he needed a little help to succeed.
Swimming wasn't Naruto's favorite thing in the world but he was willing to follow me pretty far out into the ocean. When the sun began to set, I planned on holing up in one of the places Kushina and I would often sneak out of the orphanage to sleep in. I had the decency to make sure it was well within my father's, Nagato's, and Natsuki's sensing range.
"Do we have to go back, Ji-chan?"
"Yes, we're going back in the morning."
"Why?"
"Because we have to. We always went back to town on Monday, didn't we?"
"Tomorrow's Monday, isn't it?"
"It is."
"Can we do this on Tuesday then?"
"No, not until next Sunday."
"But Ji-chan! We always spent two days in the woods! Sometimes three days!"
"I know, I'm sorry."
(-_-)
Early the next morning, the two of us were shaken awake by Nori.
"There's a boat approaching with six Uchiha shinobi in it," he said when I opened my eyes.
"Which direction?"
Nori frowned. "North. Why?"
I closed my eyes and cast my senses in that direction.
"Hey! I was talking to you!" Nori snapped.
"I'm just verifying that you're telling the truth."
"You can't sense far enough," he sullenly defended against my rebuke.
"I can sense the entirety of Konoha from the Hokage monument, Nori-kun. I can also tell you there are seven Uchiha in the boat, not six. The seventh is a child, about ten or eleven, I think. Of the six adults, four are ANBU, two are the child's parents. You need to run straight to the others, as fast as you possibly can and tell them what I told you and to stand down."
Nori just stared.
"Now!" I snapped urgently.
It didn't take any more prodding for him to take off.
I turned to Naruto and grabbed his arm, shoving up his sleeve and drawing a seal that would turn his hair red. "You need to go find the other civilian children and stay with them. Understand?"
Naruto nodded and took off. I followed Nori's trail a second later.
My father nearly took my head off when I landed beside the group of ninja waiting to meet the Uchiha. Natsuki and Nori were arguing
"Take it easy," I snarled, redirecting the strike at the last second, glancing around at the battle preparations and the whirlpools churning the water to the point where no shinobi could walk across it. "They're not here to fight, turn off the defensive seals," I ordered.
"Why should we listen to a disgrace like you?" Noa countered.
I ignored him, glancing between Natsuki and Ryuunosuke. "The leader of the group is the clan head and his wife. Their oldest child, Itachi, is with them. The other four people in the group are ANBU. They are ANBU loyal to me."
"How can you know for certain?" Nagato challenged from behind me. I flinched. I hadn't even noticed him there.
"Because I know. I can feel that they're here for our help, not to hurt us. It's a Kyuubi thing. Turn off the defensive seals. I know exactly who is in that boat."
"What could we possibly help them with?"
"The previous clan head had an identical twin brother in ANBU. I treated him. There was an anomaly in his blood that could easily turn into a genetic disorder in his children or grandchildren. When I got back to Konoha, the Sandaime showed me the chakra scan of a boy around Itachi's age, and asked for my conclusions. I told him what I thought, but there is nothing the other medics can do about it without knowledge of the adaption of the anomaly. The boy is almost certainly showing signs of illness and I'm the only person with the knowledge to help him."
"Convincing, but an assault force that size could wipe us out, Kichiro. You're going to have to do better than that." Ryuunosuke replied.
"They might be able to defeat the rest of you, but they don't have a chance against me. I can incapacitate everyone on this island without moving if I have to. Now, if you still won't believe me, Nagato can go out, he's immune to their Dōjutsu, and if help is what they want, the others can stay in the boat while his father is brought back here. I'll get the information I need from him, then he'll trade places with his son. I'll heal the boy then they'll be on their way, and we'll have the support of the Uchiha clan to further deter Konoha's retaliation against us. Hell, I could make up some bull story that Itachi will need extended treatment and we can demand they leave and we will return him when the treatment is finished."
"And if they're here to drag us back to Konoha?"
"Why would they bring the boy? He may be a genius, but he's only eleven, sick, and anyone with enough experience fighting Uchiha could defeat him. Me, Natsuki, Nagato, Riku, and Shiromaru fit the bill. Those ANBU are loyal to me. I treated all four of them while I was hidden away with Naruto and they never betrayed me. There are ten other ANBU in that clan who are loyal to Kagami and a handful of others I'm not sure of, and they told me Fugaku was aware of their visits for treatment as well as their loyalties. He also brought his wife, who retired twelve years ago to bear children. If this is an assault, it's doomed from the start. I know the weaknesses of the ANBU and Fugaku's wife, hell, I could take down the entire group, no matter how rusty I am, although the collateral damage would be quite severe if I had to fight."
"Would you stake Naruto's life on this?" Natsuki asked coldly.
"Yes," I responded with certainty.
"Release the whirlpools," Nagato ordered. "Bring them ashore."
Noriko and Natsuki waded into the water. After a few seconds it settled and the boat was drawn to shore at the speed of a motorboat.
They hit the dock harder than necessary. After a few seconds, Fugaku stood up, obviously unaccustomed to watercraft, and stepped onto the dock. I hurried up to steady him, then tied the boat to the dock. Most of the group looked at me strangely as I secured the boat with more ease than they expected.
Fugaku bowed deeply to everyone and stated: "I, Uchiha Fugaku, on behalf of my family and clan, formally petition the Uzumaki clan for assistance."
Well, that was unexpected. I didn't even know Fugaku's pride could bend, much less that he would bend it to a clan of civilians. He also had his back to me, which could have been a sign of extreme stupidity or desperation. I was inclined toward the latter. Fugaku knew me well enough that he knew I wouldn't interpret it as an insult and I would readily offer any help I could. He just had to convince everyone else. Keeping his back to me also gave me the opportunity to act if things went sideways, namely, to take him hostage if someone proved aggressive.
"I wish to speak to your clan head in private about the matter."
"That would be me," Nagato stepped forward.
Fugaku wasn't entirely certain, but thankfully didn't take Nagato's blindness as an insult.
Twenty minutes of awkward silence later, Fugaku and Nagato returned.
"Natsuki, Ryuunosuke, with me," Nagato barked. "Kichiro, you can begin."
I motioned for Fugaku and Itachi to sit with me on the grass.
"Am I correct in deducing Itachi-kun is the one in need of medical treatment?"
Fugaku nodded.
"Itachi-kun, could you lie down on your back, please?"
After a few seconds, Itachi silently complied.
"Symptoms?" I asked, kneeling beside him.
"I'm fine," Itachi insisted quietly.
"He's been coughing and in the past several years, twice has stopped training with obvious pain in his chest. Also, there's been little weight gain in the past year and poor appetite. The other medics insist nothing is wrong," Mikoto reported.
"I'm fine," Itachi repeated.
"I'm going to perform an intense diagnostics jutsu, it's more invasive than any other diagnostics jutsu the medics in Konoha can do, and it's mildly uncomfortable. Are you ready?" I asked Itachi.
He gritted his teeth and nodded.
I closed my eyes and focused my senses on Itachi. After a short string of hand seals, I placed my right hand on his chest and my left on his forehead. The first thing I noticed was that Itachi already had his Mangekyō Sharingan. The second thing was that there was no anomaly in his blood. In fact, even though I wasn't quite prepared enough to read his DNA, everything I could find about him, down to a cellular level, screamed perfect. After several minutes, Itachi fell asleep, the medical ninjutsu having a much stronger effect on him than it would on an adult. Not to mention it was extra-concentrated. I methodically scanned him from head to toe. The first scan found nothing wrong on a cellular level, so I repeated the scan one muscle, bone, and ligament at a time. I repeated the scan for a third time, focusing specifically on organs. In his heart, I found evidence of several instances of sudden cardiac arrest, which somehow resolved itself, but I couldn't pin down how many times it happened. It was definitely more than twice. There was also some blood in his lungs, but from what, I couldn't figure out.
I carefully ended the jutsu. "There's definitely something wrong, but it's not genetic like I expected. There is evidence of several heart stoppages, something unheard-of in a child his age. The second thing I found was some blood in the bottom of his lungs. Before I attempt any more scans, I'm going to extract the blood before it dries, and I'm going to do what I can to heal his heart. After that, I'll resume the scans and look at his systems as a whole, especially his respiratory, circulatory, and nervous system." Itachi slept through the entire explanation.
I didn't miss how the Uchiha were all watching the medical ninjutsu with their Sharingan, fascinated.
"Also, do not try medical ninjutsu without the proper training because it could kill you and the patient. Each healing is entirely unique." I reminded them before I started on the healing.
I wasn't sure where it started, but after I extracted the blood clogging up Itachi's lungs, I incinerated it with a seal-less fire jutsu so the DNA couldn't be recovered. His lungs were much easier to examine after the blood was cleared away, and his lungs looked as scarred as mine, from when I contracted pneumonia when I was his age, but I couldn't figure out why. I had a feeling it was connected to the unexplained evidence of two heart attacks. Healing his heart was much easier, it was only mild scar tissue after all. I finished, quite pleased with myself, only to have four sets of hands immediately pull me back. Too late, I realized I'd over-taxed myself. I was just fine chakra-wise, but my mind could only so much stimulus at once. It was why the diagnostics was technically a forbidden jutsu. Like the shadow clone, overusing it put strain on the mind, not just the body.
Thankfully, it was just a headache I had to deal with, I didn't accidentally put myself in a coma, again. Tsunade banned me from the hospital for a week after that little debacle, even though I was only out for a few hours.
I walked over to the nearest tree, half carried between two adults I couldn't recognize through my splitting headache. I covered my ears in response to the questions, using a bit of chakra to completely block out the sound, as well as the light and my ability to sense chakra. Some indeterminate time later, someone tapped out a query about how I was feeling on the inside of my knee. I responded in the same code on the side of my head, telling them I just needed time. Apparently, they didn't get the message or were just too impatient, because a few minutes later, medical chakra rushed through my head.
"You're not helping at all," I responded verbally, flushing the foreign chakra out of my system. "The problem is over-stimulus, not damage, just give me a few minutes."
Incapacitated one hour. Someone tapped the reply.
I cursed and was rewarded with a sharp slap on the knee. Gradually, I lowered the chakra barrier that was blocking my vision and hearing, though not my ability to sense chakra. Tamaki knelt on my left and Nagato had his hand on my knee.
I glanced around. Everyone except Ryuunosuke was seated or kneeling. The Uchiha ANBU were perched high in the trees, keeping watch, while the Uzumaki Genin and trainees were sitting in a circle and playing a game. Naruto had joined them at some point, disguised. Itachi still slept against his father, while his mother and Natsuki sat on the dock, talking.
"Is he alright?" Ryuunosuke asked Tamaki.
"He just stopped blocking everything else, nothing else has changed," Tamaki responded, barely audible as he used a seal to shine a tiny, bright ray of light from a seal in my eye, testing the reaction of my pupils, then snapped his fingers beside my ear. I tensed at the noise, then closed my eyes against the throbbing in my head. "Kichiro, are you sensing any chakra right now?"
"No, I shut that down as soon as I realized I overdid it."
"Will you be able to continue treatment today?"
"I can treat, but running diagnostics is beyond me for the rest of the day. I can continue after a good night's sleep." I rubbed the back of my neck.
Ryuunosuke took a knee directly in front of me, making me feel extremely crowded with three people in such proximity without invitation. I warily held my hand between us. He grabbed my wrist and reached towards my face, holding my jaw so I was forced to look him in the eye.
After a few seconds, I wrenched my head away, unable to maintain the eye contact.
"We're going to have to go with Natsuki's plan, it'll be months before he's in a suitable condition to participate in yours, especially if things go according to plan." I didn't know what he saw, and at the moment, I didn't particularly care.
"You do understand the implications, do you not? He'll never stand—"
"He won't know until it's too late," Ryuunosuke interrupted firmly.
"Who won't know what?" I asked.
"You won't know anything about the decision that's been made."
I clenched my teeth, my entire body coiled tightly, but I let it slide after a few seconds. Fugaku finally stood to investigate the change. At the last second, Nagato stood up and turned around to face Fugaku. "So long as you accept the conditions attached, your petition has been approved," Nagato informed him.
Fugaku looked as if someone had just lifted the weight of the world from his shoulders. He was dangerously close to smiling.
"Natsuki!" Nagato called. She stood up and hurried over. I tried to stand up, but Tamaki put a hand on my shoulder. The exertion made my head spin and I slumped back. When Natsuki laid a hand on Nagato's arm to let him know she was there, he continued, "The boy can remain along with the ANBU, and Natsuki and I will outline the conditions on paper before you return. When your elders agree, the decision is final."
Before I could demand an explanation, Ryuunosuke ducked under my arm and lifted me to my feet. Tamaki did the same on my other side. Coupled with the rush of blood, I could barely keep my bearings, much less demand an explanation, especially when Ryuunosuke started to report on his plans for the trainees. I didn't have the presence of mind to question anything through the pain.
(-_-)
It was two days before the migraine eased enough for me heal properly. Itachi never strayed far from the chair I spent most of the time in, and after a somewhat rocky start, Itachi and Naruto started to get along better than anyone anticipated. It was a good thing, because Shiromaru was getting sick of playing babysitter for the three of us and was more than happy to hand off the duty to Itachi.
It took another two days for me to be able to stand without dizziness, and another day after that when I could return to an easy training routine. The day I finally regained enough of my mental faculties and bearings to suspect they had been lacing my food or water with a mild hallucinogenic to prolong the effects, everything was disrupted. Ryuunosuke woke me by shaking my shoulder violently, waking Naruto, who slept next to me.
"Wha—" I answered dumbly.
"Wake up, Kichiro, we need you to help!" Ryuunosuke hissed. Itachi appeared behind him like a ghost.
It took a few seconds for my brain to catch up. By then, I was already following orders, drawing seals on the five Uchiha and Naruto who remained on the island to disguise them as redheads. Apparently, I was still the only person who could produce the seal from memory. After that, Noriko dragged me to the docks, ignoring my demands for an explanation. I didn't need one once I saw the four boats out on the water, four boats that were much closer than they should have been, and much bigger than anything we'd be able to destroy in the defensive whirlpools, at least, bigger than we could make the whirlpools with the limited chakra at our disposal. The lead boat had two masts. Two. That was bigger than all but the richest merchants possessed.
Nagato grabbed my arm. "Who is on those boats?" He demanded.
I closed my eyes and cast my senses out. At the front of the lead boat, the Sandaime stood, his arms crossed and tapping his pipe against his elbow.
I lunged forward, but everyone else must have had a pretty good guess as to what I would find, because they restrained me without much of a problem. I gave them the report without prompting.
Naomi was crucified on the foremost mast, a dozen shinobi on each boat, all Jōnin or ANBU, all of them loyal to the Sandaime and only the Sandaime.
The other ships may have only had one mast, and been quite small in comparison to the lead ship, but they were still a force to be reckoned with. The closer they got, the angrier I became. Not only was Naomi tied to the mast, but she had been stripped and her hair raggedly cut short. It was a basic intimidation tactic to dominate and humiliate one of the opposing force, trying to manipulate the rest into surrendering in fear. I channeled chakra into my eyes to improve my vision. The worst part was that Naomi wasn't unconscious or even too weak to hold her head up. Whatever they did to her had broken her spirit.
I tried to jerk free of Ryuunosuke and Nagato's grip, but it was no use, especially when Natsuki stepped in front of me and Riku grabbed me from behind.
"I'm not going to kill anyone," I swore to them. "I'm not going to release the Kyuubi or do any permanent harm. I'm just going to show them exactly who they just threatened and remind them whose student they destroyed."
Slowly, warily, they released me.
I lifted up my shirt and bit my thumb, smearing blood across the Kyuubi's seal. It was only a temporary loosening of the seal, it would only last about a half hour, but it was plenty of time. I sent our combined killing intent out across the ocean towards the ships. Ryuunosuke was the only person on the beach who managed to remain standing, even though he staggered backwards and clung to the nearest tree. Everyone else collapsed. The whirlpools failed. After a few seconds, I stepped out onto the water, walking towards the advancing ships, gradually picking up speed until I was running full-speed towards them. When I was about a quarter-mile away, I redoubled the killing intent and pulled up a massive tidal wave behind me by combining my chakra with the Kyuubi's. I had never before tried something this big, but I was too angry to care. Naomi had been through hell once, and now they dragged her through it a second time. She was seventeen, ninja or not, Konoha law didn't even consider her an adult, or even able to make decisions for herself. They tortured her to try and get inside my head. I wasn't going to let them, instead, I was going to turn the fear they intended for me back on them.
The Sandaime held up his arms to counter, but quickly realized that even if all the ninja on the boats joined forces, they wouldn't be able to stop it, or even survive it. Minato was probably the only shinobi in the world who could counter a mass of water that big.
I was already starting to feel the strain, so I Hiraishined to Naomi and cut her down from the mast. Everyone turned towards me as I crouched on the deck of the ship, Naomi in my arms. I held their attention for as long as I could, until the wave was about to hit. I smirked at the Sandaime and pointed behind him. Everyone turned and looked up at the wave. I jumped to the top of it, holding Naomi, then cut it down so it wouldn't kill anyone or destroy the lead boat. Too my immense pleasure, everyone saw the Sandaime sucked into the water first before I flashed back to the docks, landing clumsily on top of Nagato. The wave destroyed three of the four boats, putting all the shinobi in the rinse cycle before letting them surface and swing themselves up onto the surviving boat.
As soon as I landed, I cut the killing intent. It took several minutes for most of the group to recover and I used the time start diagnostics on Naomi.
Then the questions started. "Did you get Naomi? What happened? What was the Kyuubi's chakra used for? Is Naomi okay?"
"Calm down," I placated, "The Konoha force has been turned away. You need to back off, please."
Ryuunosuke pulled Nagato back, only to have Natsuki and Noriko take his place, wrapping blankets around an unresponsive Naomi while I reassured her everything was okay now. When I was about to hand her to Natsuki, she spoke.
"'Chiro-sensei?" She asked softly, her voice hoarse and barely audible.
"Yeah, it's me, Naomi, you're safe. We're in Uzu right now, Nagato, Natsuki, and Noriko are all crowded around." I held her hand against my neck.
After the complete unresponsiveness, it was a relief when she burst into tears.
"I'm going to take you somewhere more sheltered, is that okay?"
"Don't tell anyone what happened, please?" She begged, wrapping both arms around my neck. "Please don't tell them!"
"It's okay, I won't say anything, I promise."
Nagato looked extremely unhappy with the development, but helped me to my feet anyways, supporting Naomi's head in the process.
I kept up a quiet commentary as we walked, Naomi's siblings hovering around us, occasionally tripping me in the process; I had too many hands clinging to my clothes and supporting my weight to fall. By the time we made it back to the rebuilt house, they had already set aside a room in the newly built house and laid out several blankets to make a pseudo-futon.
I started to lay Naomi down, but she clung to my neck. I readjusted and sat down against the wall, murmuring reassurances. It didn't talk long for Fusō to burst in, closely followed by Ise.
"She'll be okay," I assured them.
Fusō cautiously crouched in front of Naomi, with one shoulder against the wall.
"Naomi, your parents are here, they want to make sure you're alright."
She cringed. "I-I don't want them to see, I don't want them to know—" She mumbled. I barely understood her.
"They've seen worse, Naomi, it's okay."
"We just want to make sure you're okay, Naomi-chan," Fusō added quietly. Naomi pulled a corner of the blanket over her head.
"Please go away," she responded loud enough for Fusō to hear. The woman bit her lip and aborted taking Naomi's hand.
I continued murmuring quiet reassurances interspersed with quiet humming, loosely following the protocol for captured nin until she was comfortable enough for me to begin medical treatment. Nagato stood silently by the door.
After I was mostly finished with the non-chakra diagnostics, Natsuki returned with clothes. It took several minutes before I persuaded Naomi to let me out of the room so she could get dressed. When I returned, Naomi had wedged herself in the corner of the room and no amount of quiet coaxing from Natsuki could persuade her to budge. Natsuki had left a clear route for Naomi to escape. When Natsuki stood up, Naomi shrunk in on herself. I had a theory, but I wasn't sure. I sat down in the place Natsuki had just vacated.
Keeping several blankets around her, Naomi gradually leaned against my side. I put my hand in hers and slowly covered both of our hands with medical ninjutsu.
I didn't run diagnostics or mess with anything, I just massaged the palm of her hand. When she was ready, she placed my hand on her collarbone and I started diagnostics.
Small, dark spaces were Naomi's bread and butter, but the diagnostics told me that instead of the normal interrogation methods Konoha used, she had been stripped and staked outside, most likely gagged and blindfolded. Bugs and animals had caused most of the mild cuts and contusions. Her torture had been almost entirely psychological. "Can I start healing?" I asked quietly.
After a long pause, she nodded. It took me less than ten minutes to heal everything except the effects of exposure, but those could only heal in time. I wrapped her in as many blankets as could be spared once I finished.
"Do you want to talk about it?" I forced myself to inquire. The injuries I healed painted a clear enough picture, I didn't want to know anything more.
When she nodded, I felt more than a little sick. "I don't want Nii-san to know," she insisted. "Just you."
Nagato didn't give me a chance to give an opinion, he just left, closing the door behind him.
Author's note: It iced, then snowed here in South Texas. My dog is thrilled! The rest of us...that's up for debate, but no one can deny it's beautiful.