Kisame never answered my question. I tried to get it out of him as he took care of me for the next two weeks, but he never budged. Annoying. But it did show how loyal he was. So I believed him when he said he wouldn't tell anyone about what happened or where I am.
Although he did say that Ōnoki wanted me to go visit at some point. Shikaku is going to murder me if he ever finds out. The only way I'll be able to meet with the Tsuchikage will be for me to go before I go back to Konoha. Which means traveling alone. With root after me.
I'm already tired.
"What's with that face?" Kisame asks. I look up from my bowl of mangú to see him leaning against one of the kitchen counters, a blue apron tied around his waist.
"You look so domestic," the words spill out before I can stop them. He rolls his eyes. "I was just thinking about how annoying it's going to be when I go to Iwa."
"You shouldn't have any issues with them," he shrugs.
"There's no water, anywhere! And I can't do earth jutsu!"
"What the fuck was the giant hand that was made of the literal earth, then?"
"It's a seal!" I wave my still covered hand. I could go without the bandages now, but the palm of my hand is super sensitive now. I'll need to find some gloves I can wear instead of these bandages soon.
"It's called fuinjutsu," he deadpans.
"Shut up," I say as I look back down at my bowl. I scoop up a bite of mangú and ignore him as he finishes washing the dishes. Behind his mask of being a macho killer S-rank ninja, he's actually a huge softie.
"Ne, do you think Samehada would let me touch them?" I ask after he puts the last of the dishes on a drying rack.
"You trying to steal my sword?" He asks as he crosses his arms. He leans back against the sink as he looks at me.
"No! I have enough swords of my own, ya know? But Samehada is just so cool." I lean my head on my hands as I think of the sword. It's huge! And it has its own chakra network which is insane. And it's made of scales which makes it even cooler.
"Be careful or pineapple head is going to get jealous," Kisame teases. I feel my mouth drop open.
"Not you too!"
"The sharks are the best gossips," he smirks as he leaves the room. "Wait there!" I huff and work on finishing my breakfast. Kisame was going to leave the island today. He'd been away from his totally loyal not going to backstab him or try to ruin the world organization for too long.
I don't know why I want him to leave it, but I do. There's this bad feeling in my chest that I can't seem to shake whenever I think about the Akatsuki. And in the time that Kisame has been here, he's become a friend.
I'd learned a lot about Kiri and its connections to Uzu over the last few weeks. Since Uzu gave Kiri Samehada, Kiri gave protection to Uzu's leader and their family. Which is why Kisame was watching me all this time. Apparently he'd been watching over me and Naruto since we were kids.
Some of the fuinjutsu stuff that I got as a kid wasn't from Jiraiya after all.
"Alright," Kisame says as he walks back into the room. He's back in his black cape with red clouds. He'd switched to wearing blue pants and short sleeves the last few weeks. They suited him more than this stupid cape. "If you keep looking at it like that you'll set it on fire."
"I can't do fire jutsu," I say.
"Just like you can't do earth jutsu?"
"I don't have a seal for fire, I'm waiting to go back to Konoha 'ttbane," I cross my arms over my chest and his lips twitch.
"What I was going to say at first is that Samehada agreed you can touch them."
"Really?"
"I want to see your swords before I leave, too."
"Okay," I nod as I stand up from my stool. Kisame holds Samehada out for me and I carefully touch the blade wrapped in bandages. It immediately comes to life under my fingers, it's chakra thrumming with excitement. I let out an excited giggle as the sword seems to jump towards me. Kisame sighs but I smile up at him as I pet the sword one last time.
"Thank you," I say to Samehada first. "And thank you for taking care of me," I say as I look up at Kisame.
"Yeah, yeah. Grab your swords and meet me outside." I huff but listen to him anyway. I follow him through the hallway towards the front door. My backpack has sat untouched on the genkan since we got here. I slip on my sandals before I start looking through my backpack. I grab the scroll with my swords from Bee-sensei as well as the scroll with my extra weapons.
I walk down to the beach where I take my sandals off again. I hate trying to get the sand out of them.
Kisame works through a kata like it's as easy as breathing. And for him, it probably is. I look out at the water to see shark fins closer than normal. They must be excited for Kisame to be here. I feel bad for forgetting about the summons and I try to push that feeling down. I've been recovering. I can't take care of all the summons or interact with all the summons when I need to be resting.
Still, I do miss the small chats with different summons as I walk around the island. Maybe I'll do that more this week after Kisame leaves. I see him look at me out of the corner of his eye and quickly walk over to him. As soon as I put the scrolls on the ground to pull out my swords, Kisame walks over to the dock and leaves Samehada there before he walks back over.
First, I pull out my Supervibrato Lightning Release Swords. Kisame raises his eyebrows when I take the stance Bee-sensei taught me on my first day with the swords. I snort at his reaction and struggle to let go of all of the swords without hurting myself.
"I can't use them yet, I don't want to hurt myself with lightning."
"At least you have some sense."
"You're so mean to me," I pout up at the man as I put my swords back in their scroll. He smirks. I roll my eyes and turn back to my extra weapons scroll. I pull out my tanto and hand it to him. He nods as he turns it over in his hands.
"Alright, what do you actually use?" He asks as he hands the tanto back to me.
"I use all of those 'ttbane!"
"But they're not your primary blade," Kisame says as he crosses his arms. I sigh as I reach my hand behind my back. I hover my hand over the seal until I feel the handle of Ryūjin. I grip it tightly as I pull it from my back. Kisame raises an eyebrow.
"You can't access it when you've got a backpack on."
"I don't normally use a backpack, I've got seals ya know."
"You'll want to use one so people don't know you've got seals, idiot."
"What do you think I was doing when you found me 'ttbane?" Kisame crouches in front of me to look me in my eyes.
"You couldn't get your sword out in that fight, that seal is great for a backup weapon like your tanto, but you need a better spot for this blade. It's obviously the one you're the most comfortable with."
"But it took so long!"
"Do it again," Kisame shrugs. "It should be easier the second time around."
"I've already got three permanent seals on my body and I'm only thirteen."
"That's normal for an Uzumaki, brat. You've at least got a storage seal, right?"
"Yeah."
"The one on the inside of your wrist?" I nod. "Good, it just looks like a tattoo so you shouldn't have issues with people knowing it's a seal right away."
"I know right! I made it back when I was still in Konoha."
"When are you going back?" He asks as I show him Ryūjin more closely.
"I don't know, I'm not ready yet."
"Just be careful when you do," he says as he finally stands up. "And don't stay too far away from water. It was fun watching you fall in when you were learning to water walk."
"You were watching me then too?" I screech as I put Ryūjin back into its current seal. Kisame's eyes widen and he's gone in a second.
"I'm going to kill you shark boy and feed you to your summons!"
"Dios mío," I hear Kairi say. I look over to the seagull who's perched on one of the dock posts.
"Want to help me?" Kairi fluffs her feathers before she flies over to land on my shoulder. She's never helped me in a prank before.
This is going to be awesome.
I managed to cover all of his Akatsuki robes with glitter when he wasn't paying attention. The summons kept him occupied as I methodically covered all of the red clouds with heaps of blue glitter. If he has to wear the robes, at least he can be connected to the ocean in some capacity. I smile at the memory as I lean back against my pillows.
Haruto delivered a scroll, his eyes hard. I know whatever is in this is not going to be good. I try to focus on the happy feelings for a little bit longer. Haruto leaves my window after a few minutes, likely going to tell the others what he learned in his time in Konoha. I let out a small sigh as I look down at the scroll in my hands. It's nothing special. Just a plain red scroll.
I feel Jiraiya's chakra thrum along it, a blood detection seal sits at one end.
This really can't be good.
I shift against the pillows again. Even with Kisame gone, I've been taking time to rest. I've only just started getting back into some katas and stretching. No running, weapons training, or dancing. All things I need to be doing to improve.
But I can't improve if I hurt myself more seriously by aggravating a still healing injury. I bite my thumb and swipe it along the blood detection seal. It easily unravels after a moment and I hold it in front of me carefully.
Hey Tadpole,
I'm sorry I haven't sent you a letter in a few weeks, but I've been busy training with your brother. Not only have we been training, but I've been pulled into team dinners and dinners with the Nara. Honestly, how did you keep up with this gaki's social calendar?
I can't help it, I start laughing at Jiraiya's pain. I never had to deal with team dinners, I can't imagine eating with Naruto and Sasuke regularly after all these years. It was bad enough when we were in the academy.
Also, can you believe the kid has a boyfriend already?
What? Naruto has a boyfriend? He's only been a genin for what, six months now?
I mean, you probably do. Shikaku's kid was annoyed that he lost a bet about how long it would take for Naruto and Sasuke to get together.
I smile widely.
"Uh oh," Itsuki says as he hops through the window. He settles on my bed beside me as he looks at my face. "What's that look for?"
"I won a free dinner from Shikamaru."
"Oh your first date!"
"It's not a date 'ttbane!" Itsuki's squeaky laughter fills the room and I turn back to the scroll to ignore him.
Look kiddo, I don't know how to say this-
This can't be good. This can't be good at all.
Sensei is dead. He died while using the Dead Demon Consuming Seal to seal Orochimaru's arms.
I close my eyes and take deep breaths. I knew something bad like this was coming. That this would happen. Jiji knew it would happen. I just didn't expect it to happen so soon.
Konoha was attacked by Otogakure and Sunagakure ninja as well.
"Otogakure?" I ask out loud. "And Suna? I thought we were allies."
"That doesn't mean much in this world, mija," Ichika says as she enters the room. She settles at the foot of the bed where she is pressed against my feet.
"I know, but still," I sigh as I shift the scroll in my hands. "I've never even heard of Otogakure before."
"It must be a new nation," Itsuki says.
"I don't like that," I shake my head.
"It could be a good thing, more competition between the larger villages." Ichika says before she starts to lick a paw.
"Maybe if Orochimaru isn't involved. But he is. Do you think he had something to do with the founding of the village? He always wanted to be a kage."
"It's possible," Itsuki says. For once the normally carefree monkey looks contemplative as he rests his head on his paw. If we were in a different situation, I might laugh at the stoic pose. But instead I turn back to the scroll.
Your brother, his team, and I am okay. Your old Anbu team seems to be doing okay as well. Kakashi managed to land himself in the hospital with chakra exhaustion, but other than him, no one from your little group and academy class are in the hospital.
My shoulders relax. I roll them to ease the pain in my muscles. Everyone is okay, other than Jiji. That's the most important thing. It hurts, losing Jiji. But he knew what may happen, he expected it. I just wish none of it had to happen.
Parts of the village are destroyed, your apartment is still in good shape, well, as good of shape that it can be in. Naruto has been staying at the Uchiha and Nara compounds more than the apartment itself since you left.
I try not to feel the pang of hurt in my chest. I had no choice but to come here. Jiji literally threw me out a window.
But the thought of my brother hopping from house to house to not be alone hurts more than anything. Naruto deserves to have a secure place, a place where he can always go that feels like home. Maybe once I deal with Danzo, the Uchiha compound can be that for him.
Even if it's not with me.
He managed to talk down the jinchūriki of the one tails. The kid was going to destroy the entire village, his seal was absolute shit. Like they made it specifically for this. The kid and his siblings got out of the village before I could get to him to fix it. I don't know if I can make it to Suna anytime soon, but if you have time maybe stop by?
"Only you could give me more work, Jiraiya," I huff under my breath.
There's also something else.
Because of course there is.
I've been asked to bring Tsunade back to the village. You think you could meet us along the way? We'll be leaving Konoha in three days. I know you can't come back to Konoha, but maybe we can meet along the way? The toads saw Tsuna-hime near the border of fire country and Yugakure. Maybe you two could talk, self exiled princess to self exiled princess.
"This is going to suck," I sigh as I look over the words. I have a chance to see Naruto and Jiraiya closer to Uzu. And maybe I can warn Tsunade about Danzo and Root before she gets to the village. I won't be the one to convince her to go back. That will be Naruto. But maybe I can help prepare her before she gets there.
"What's going to suck?" Ichika asks. She turns to look at me, concern in her eyes.
"We're going on a trip."
"We are?" She asks.
"Jiraiya said maybe me and Tsunade can talk self exiled princess to self exiled princess." Itsuki starts laughing immediately.
"Why are you going to talk to Tsunade?" Itsuki asks as he calms down.
"She was one of the people Jiji said could become the Godaime."
"That means-" Itsuki begins.
"Oh, Kiku-chan," Ichika says gently. She moves from her spot at the end of the bed to curl around me. I lean into her easily and turn back to the scroll.
Don't worry about sending a message, I'm sure you'll make yourself known if you decide to join us.
"Please tell me you're going to prank him," Ichika says as she looks down at the scroll.
"Who are you talking to?" I look down at her. Her answering grin is feral.
Whether you choose to come or not, take care of yourself, tadpole. I hope you're doing okay.
Love,
Jiraiya
PS. I've included a belated present for your thirteenth birthday. It's a little early, but since you're alone no clan heads are going to kick my ass for giving this to you now. I gave it to Kakashi when he was your age, it shouldn't be a problem for you.
"What the hell would he give me that would have the clan heads upset?" I ask as I look down at the small storage seal by the PS. I put my hand over it, and feel my cheeks heat up when I see what comes out of it.
I immediately throw the bright orange book across the room. Stupid sage.
"You're so dumb, pervy sage!" Naruto's whine breaks through the dense trees. "This is the worst place to stop for a break, ya know? Besides, why do we need to stop? I can keep going!"
"I know your mouth can keep going, gaki!" Jiraiya says. I have to force myself not to laugh at the look on Naruto's face as I get closer to them. He looks so offended by Jiraiya's words that he doesn't even notice me. I'm sure Jiraiya notices me, though. His head twitches just a little towards my direction.
I concentrate on my chains and soon they come out of my torso slowly and quietly. I attach some glitter bombs to them before I send them flying. Naruto jumps back, but it's too late for Jiraiya. He's covered in orange glitter. Naruto's carefree laughs ring out throughout the forest and I join him as I pull my chains back. I sloppily hop out of the tree I'm hiding in down to the small clearing that they stand in.
I clutch at my stomach at the look of pure horror on Jiraiya's face. Ichika's laughter joins mine and Naruto's as she hops down from her spot in another tree across the clearing.
"When I said you'd make yourself known, I didn't mean like that!" Jiraiya yells. It makes me laugh even more. I'm leaned against Ichika, tears streaming down my face as I look at Jiraiya. His white hair is covered in orange glitter. A small smile starts to form on his face as he watches me and Naruto gasp for air.
"I'm glad you're here, gaki."
"Me too, old man."
"Hey who are you calling old?" He says, putting his hands on his hips.
"Uh yo-" the word dies in my throat as a pair of arms wrap around me and squeeze me to death. Well, not literally, but it's almost there.
"What are you doing here? Did you plan this? Are you coming home with us? Did you learn really cool jutsu?"
"Naruto!" I squeak trying to move his arms from crushing my lungs. I wrap my own arms around him, relishing in his warmth despite the death grip he has on me. "Jiraiya asked if I could join you." I say as he finally relaxes his grip a little.
"Really?" Naruto asks, hope shining clearly in his eyes.
"Really," Jiraiya says as he starts to shake glitter from his hair.
"And for your other questions, the prank? Yes I did plan it, it was great. No, I'll be going back to where I'm training, I'm not even close to being done. And yes! I learned a few! Oh! I've got a scroll for you!"
"A scroll?" Naruto asks as he pulls away from the hug. I put my hand over the inside of my left wrist and pull out a scroll. It's the scroll mom and dad left for us in Uzushiogakure.
"Do you have somewhere safe to keep this?"
"Yeah!" Naruto grins as he takes the scroll from me. He pulls back the sleeve of his jacket and there on the inside of his left wrist is the same symbol that is branded on my own.
"Naruto?" I ask quietly as the scroll goes into the seal securely.
"I missed you," he shrugs. "I kinda maybe sorta went through all your practices that you did with Jiji?" I look at my brother for a moment. His tanned cheeks start to turn to a bright pink color. He scratches the back of his head and I can't stop myself. I jump forward and wrap him in a hug like he held me in earlier. I don't realize I'm sobbing until I hear Naruto panicking.
"I-I'm sor-sorry I wasn't ho-home nii-san," I finally stutter into his shoulder. "I missed you so mu-much." Naruto tightens his arms around me and pulls me closer.
"I missed you too, imouto."
"Alright tadpoles," Jiraiya says after Naruto and I have both calmed down. "We might be able to make it to the next town and get a room before dark if we head out now."
"Okay," I say as I pull away from my brother. I wipe at my eyes, the rough texture of my new fingerless gloves scratch at my cheeks.
"Hey, what's in the scroll?" Naruto asks as we start to stand up.
"Notes and techniques from dad and mom." Naruto's eyes widen before he starts bouncing up and down in place.
"I'm so going to be able to finish Rasengan soon, believe it!"