First, I want to say thank you for all the comments. I'm so glad y'all are enjoying the story!
Second, I'm so sorry for the time between chapters. I wasn't doing great mental health wise, but now I've got some medicine, so here's to hoping for more consistent updates!
And finally, translations for this chapter are at the end!
I wake up to the sounds of birds chirping.
It immediately puts me on edge. The last few weeks had been filled with silence except for the sounds that came with the work I was doing, and the quiet voices of the summons who helped me. There were no non-summons birds. The water didn't even make any noise.
I carefully sit up from where I had apparently fallen asleep the night before. The dock moves with the gentle waves under us. I turn to look at Ren and Ichika, both of them seem to be wide awake. Their chakra thrums in excitement for the first time since I stepped through the barrier seal.
"The stasis seal has come down," Ren says, breaking up the somewhat quiet of the morning. "And it seems that Uzushiogakure has come back to life."
"What?" I croak. My voice is sore from all the crying the last few days.
"The island is alive," Ichika says, her voice warm. It no longer has the roughness that she'd had the last few weeks. For the first time she seems relaxed.
I look out towards the ocean. The waves are gentle near us, steady and smooth. The gentle sound of the waves crashing brings a sense of ease I haven't felt in awhile.
But when I look out towards the barrier seal the waves are rough, choppy, and high. No one would be able to survive those waters. I see dolphins jump out of the waves not too far from us, and the top fins of some sharks closer to the barrier.
For the first time since stepping on the island, I finally feel safe from Danzo and Root. Not only will the barrier protect me, but all the animals of the island will protect me as well.
"Come," Ichika says. I feel her fur brush against my arm as she stands up from her spot beside me. Ren follows her lead, standing as well. I carefully stand up, my entire body sore from the work of the last few weeks. I limp off the dock and follow Ichika and Ren up the beach, only to freeze when I finally look up.
"Took you long enough," Ichika says, her voice teasing as she bumps against me again. Her tail swishes playfully, reminding me of the house cats in the Uchiha district.
I ignore her teasing, though. I'm too entranced by what is in front of me.
When I made the trip down to the docks last night, the plants and trees that lined the beach were limp, completely dead and beyond saving.
But now the plants and trees that run along the shoreline are bright and vibrant. There's so much green! But it's not only green. Bright pink, purple, blue, yellow, and orange flowers bloom amongst the other plants. The trees that once seemed to be a gust of wind from toppling over now stand strong. Some of them even seem like they've begun to bear fruit again!
I feel hot tears stream down my cheeks as I fall to my knees in the sand. I bow down, the palms of my hands and my forehead touch the warm sand below me. I feel the heat of the sun on my back and the gentle breeze of the wind. I can practically taste the salt water in the air.
"Thank you," I finally whisper. I can only hope that all the love, admiration, and trust I feel for my ancestors and the island can be felt by them as I give my thanks.
A gust of wind blows against me, causing me to sit back on my knees. The wind blows again, the opposite direction this time. And then it blows one more time, against my back as if it's leading me back towards the center of the island.
I hear the faint sound of a woman's laughter. It sounds carefree on the surface, almost mischievous. It reminds me of my brother's quiet laughter as he's setting up a prank. But it also sounds different, weathered in a way. Like the first true laugh of someone coming out of a long time of hardship.
And for some reason, it sounds like I've heard it before.
"It sounds like Kushina approves," Ichika says as I finally begin to stand. I turn towards the mountain lion summons, her eyes are filled with pride as she looks at me. I struggle to control my breathing.
"Mom?"
"Little Kushina's laughter after she set up a prank still haunts my dreams," Ichika says, her voice filled with mirth.
"You knew her?" I ask, my voice cracking. Ichika walks closer, her tan fur brushes against my arm as she moves closer to me. I put my hand on the top of her head, and it's only then that I realize I'm shaking.
"Of course I did, she was Kazumi's daughter after all." I freeze at Ichika's words. She moves her head to rest on my shoulder as my hand drops to her back. Kazumi was Ichika's summoner. The head medic of the maternity clinic. The woman who died defending the families inside of the clinic.
She killed ten Root shinobi in the clinic. Alone.
That brave kunoichi was my grandmother. I sent my grandmother out for a water burial. And I didn't even know.
"Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
"That was the last thing you needed in the middle of everything you were doing. You had seen too much in the clinic already, I was afraid that it would push you over the edge," Ichika says gently.
"Is that why you're both keeping such a close eye on me?" I ask as I look over to Ren. He shakes his head, pain clear in his eyes.
"We've kept so close to you because we need you just as much as you need us." I feel the tears well in my eyes again as I wrap my arms around Ichika's neck. I bury my face in her fur as I feel my body shake with my sobs.
"W-where's my other grandparent, then?"
"Your grandfather, Uta, was on a trading trip when the island was attacked," Ichika says gently. "He most likely went into hiding after he heard the news."
"Hiding?" I ask as I pull away from Ichika slightly. I force myself to take deep breaths in a vain attempt to try to calm myself down.
"The entire village was expecting an attack at some point," Ichika says. Her voice sounds far away. "The Uzukage made a decree that if the island fell and you were outside of the village, you were to go into hiding."
"So that's why Hiroto-ojichan and Arashi went into hiding," I whisper to myself. "Is there a list of everyone who was a citizen of Uzushiogakure when she fell?" I ask Ichika.
"In the Uzukage's home," Ichika nods. "We can take you there later, okay?"
"Okay," I say as I lay my hand on Ichika's back. She nudges me towards the line of trees that practically cover the once obvious path that was there the night before. "Where are we going?" I ask her as I start to walk in the direction she was pushing me.
"We're going to take you to the natural onsen," Ichika says as she playfully moves her muzzle away from me. "You definitely need a bath."
"Thank you," I sigh as I start walking a bit faster. I'd been in pure survival mode for the last few weeks, mainly wiping myself down whenever one of the summons would remind me to. I hear Ren huff out a small laugh behind us as we start walking up the path back towards the village.
It looks like a completely different place now.
The once barren ground is filled with greenery, flowers, bugs, and small animals. We cross a small creek that cuts through the path, but I pause halfway over it. In the creek I can see small whirlpools forming. I hear laughter and look around, only to see a feline grin from Ichika.
"Not as mischievous as Kushina-chan's, ne Kiku-chan?" I force the lump in my throat down as I grin at her.
"You haven't seen my pranks yet." Ren shoots a worried look to Ichika who only bursts out into laughter with me.
"Troublesome," Ren whispers under his breath. The reminder of Shikamaru, Shikaku, and Ensui causes a sharp pang in my chest, but I can't stop myself from laughing harder.
I'm going to have to prank him first.
A few minutes later, Ichika and I stand at the entrance to an onsen. We'd walked through part of the village, over a pond, through part of the jungle, and then halfway up one of the mountains on one side of the island. Mountain cliffs line both sides of the river at its end. The river that flows through the island flows out into the ocean.
Hidden among the cliffs is an elaborate onsen. It seems to be one of the few buildings untouched in the massacre. A large wheel spins on its side, water flows through it and into the stream that flows back down the mountain.
"What is that?" I ask Ichika, pointing to the large wheel.
"A watermill," she says as she walks up the wooden steps. "This is the only place with indoor running water at the moment."
"Really?" I ask, as I follow her lead up the stairs. The inside of the onsen is simple, the wood paneling along the walls had been sealed with fire. The dark grains of the wood contrast with the bright stone floor. Ichika leads me through the building, we walk by the front desk, the sitting area, and eventually end up in the women's showers.
I carefully pull the dolphin pins from my hair and put them back in the seal on my left wrist. I say a short prayer in my own mind, hoping that I won't need them anytime soon.
I pull my hair out of the braids it had been woven into soon after I arrived to the island. I sigh in relief as the pressure is removed from my scalp. I hear Ichika's steps as she walks into the showers. I turn to see her with a basket in her mouth. She sets it down on a bench away from the showers, and that's when I see it's filled with towels and clothing.
"From Ren. Grab out a couple of towels for now, for before we go into the onsen," Ichika says as she walks over to one of the showers. I follow her directions and set out a couple of towels before taking off my now dirty clothes. I fold them carefully and put them on the bench beside the towels. I turn back around to see Ichika waiting patiently by one of the showerheads. She nods her head towards the knob.
I walk over and turn it on, and sigh at the feeling of the warm water hitting me. But then that bliss is interrupted by Ichika pushing me out of the way towards the shower head next to hers. I see the mischievous look in her eye, so I quickly decide to take the hint and start up my own shower beside hers.
If she was my grandmother's summons, that means she had to help out with some of Kazumi and my mom's pranks. The thought alone makes me shiver as I turn on the knob for my own shower.
I take my time under the warm water, I make sure to get all the dirt, grime, and blood out of my hair before I move to clean the rest of my body. Ichika finishes before me, she gets me to turn off her shower, but doesn't rush me in finishing mine.
Once I'm finally done, I turn off the water and turn back around to grab a towel. I wrap myself in one before using another towel to help Ichika dry off. The mischievous look she had earlier is gone. Now it's one filled with worry.
"You're far too skinny," she says after I've finished drying her off.
"Well, I've been doing a lot of work-"
"Uzumaki Kikuko," she cuts me off. I freeze at the stern tone of her voice as she looks me in the eyes. "Ren told me you haven't lost much weight since when you arrived." I look away from her brown eyes, unable to handle the deep worry in them.
"We couldn't really afford much food, ya know?" I say as I turn my focus to drying myself off. "And then I got so used to it that even when we started to have enough, I still couldn't eat more."
"Well, we'll change that," Ichika says after a moment of silence. "But now let's go relax in the hot springs, enjoy some boy free time for a bit." I laugh quietly at Ichika's small dig at Ren. They've been bickering like an old married couple since we got up this morning.
We make our way outside of the showers and into the natural hot springs. I sink down in the water, only my head stays above it as I close my eyes. I finally feel my body relax.
Until it hits me.
Glimpses of bodies flash before my eyes. Each of their names ingrained with the image of their body as I found it. The blood. The dirt. The destruction. The images whirl through my head. The question of if they were awake when they died. If they knew if their loved ones were safe outside of the village.
What would the kids have done if they survived? Would they have gone on to be jounin? Would they have created new seals to help the world? Would they have been able to sit down for dinner with their families? Have families of their own? Did they really understand what was happening that night?
"Kikuko," a new voice snaps me out of the panic attack. I blink hard, trying to clear my vision as I start to come back to the present.
"Breathe," Kairi says. I feel her tug some of my hair with her beak and wince. "That is the last place you need to be."
"I couldn't help it 'ttbane!" I turn to glare at the seagull. She huffs as she moves from the rock beside me to sit on my shoulder.
"No child should go through what you've just gone through," Ichika says. I look over my other shoulder to see her laying on the rock behind me. "But you musn't let your experiences of the last few weeks control you."
"How do I stop it?" I ask, my voice sounding much smaller than I want it to.
"Time," Ichika says gently.
"And new memories," Kairi says. "With enough work and time, you will have good memories of the island when time comes for you to leave it."
"I don't want to go back," I shake my head as I stare at the small whirlpools forming in the water in front of me. I reach my hand out over it, feeling the water move against my hand gently.
"I did not say you were going to return to Konoha," Kairi says. My hand tenses for a second, but I force it to relax back over the water. "But you will need to leave for supplies eventually. I'm sure you would also like to see your brother again, too."
"Yeah," I say, my voice cracking. "Oh no," I whisper after a minute of silence.
"What is it?" Ichika asks, standing from her spot on the rock to walk closer to us.
"I promised sensei and Jiji that I would send letters each week, they're going to be so mad!" I drop my head into my hands, only to hear a small huff of amusement from Ichika.
"Just keep the letters short and to the point," Kairi says. "You ran into an unexpected situation that made you stay off the radar for a bit."
"You don't know my sensei," I sigh as I finally pull my head back up. "I should probably send them out before the end of the night. Do you know of anyone who would be willing to take them for me?"
"My brother and I are out of the question," Kairi says. "Although some of the hawks might be willing. They've been the only ones to leave the island to see Konoha."
"They've been spying?" I ask as I start to stand from the water. I grab the towel Ichika offers to me, grateful for the covering from the soft breeze.
"Information gathering," Kairi says.
"So spying," I snort. "On Danzo or the village in general?"
"What do you think?"
"¿Por qué no los dos?" The question slips out naturally, but Kairi tenses on my shoulder.
There's a tense second of silence.
And then, Ichika bursts out in laughter. Her head tilts back as her entire body shakes. Kairi is tense for a moment, but then she too starts laughing. It takes them a few minutes for them to recover as I start to walk back into the shower room.
"Of course that would be one of the phrases you would know," Ichika finally gasps out. "I should not have expected anything less of Kushina's daughter."
"Did mom say that a lot?" I ask as I walk over to the basket from earlier.
"Did Kushina say that a lot?" Kairi mumbles under her breath. I look to see the seagull shaking her head, as if I'd just asked the dumbest question.
"It was the first phrase she could say as a toddler," Ichika says, her voice filled with amusement. "Especially when ramen was involved."
"Every week, Kazumi would take Kushina-chan to the ramen stall and say, 'Mija, you need to choose between the shio and shoyu'." Ichika laughs as she recounts the story.
"Pero, mamá!" Ichika continues, her voice whiney. "¿Por qué no los dos? ¡Es muy difícil! no puedo decidir~"
"Every week," Kairi says, her voice filled with warmth.
"You say that as though Kahana didn't encourage little Kushina," Ichika says as I start to pull out some of the clothes from the basket.
"Mom was close to the Uzukage?" I ask after I've slipped on my underwear. Kairi moves to perch on top of one of the shower heads.
"I would hope she would be close with her Auntie," Kairi fluffs her feathers as she looks away from us. "They trained together almost every day, it was obvious from a young age that little Kushina would be the next in line for the hat."
I don't say anything to that as I finish getting dressed. I put on my shirt first, a colorful, long bright blue tank top with thick straps. Underneath I wear a plain pair of black shorts. The clothing is soft, and it feels much more comfortable than the more formal wear I'd been wearing for the last few weeks.
I take my time pulling my hair back into two buns, too tired to actually take the time to comb through it at the moment. I use the time to try to calm myself down. Why was my mom chosen to become the jinchuriki, then? If she was that important to the future of Uzushiogakure, why didn't they fight for her?
"Do not question the Sandaime, Kikuko," Kairi says firmly. She glides back down to rest on my shoulder once again, and I struggle to stop myself from pushing her away.
"I-"
"Kahana fought hard to end the agreement between the villages," Kairi cuts me off. "She thought it was barbaric, that if Konoha wanted to use a person as a weapon, they would have to do it with one of their own."
"Why her?"
"Her chakra was strong, just like all other Uzumaki's. But Konoha saw how close she was to the Uzukage, they knew she would be an asset in the inevitable future wars," Ichika says as she moves closer to me. She presses into my side and I naturally lean into her warmth.
"Kushina was granted dual citizenship," Kairi says. "They said she could come back and forth between the villages with guards, it's the only way the Uzukage would agree to it."
"And then they destroyed Uzushiogakure so she couldn't come home."
"And so that there would be no one as powerful as her to come out of the village again," Kairi finishes. I feel rage begin to take over my body. It's like I heat up from the inside, but there's nowhere for the energy to go. And then a gust of wind blows through the onsen, the cloth signs move wildly with the blasts.
"But it seems as though they were wrong," Kairi says after the wind begins to calm down. I close my eyes and take a deep breath.
"Where do I start?"
Quick translations:
¿Por qué no los dos? - Why not both?
Mija - My daughter
Pero, mamá - But mom
¡Es muy difícil! no puedo decidir - It's too difficult! I can't decide