I carefully focus on my chakra like the scroll mom left said to do, before I focus on the training dummy in the center of the training field. I'd managed small chains before that barely went a foot in front of me. After a few more days I was able to get them to go a few feet. Now I was trying to make strong enough chains to enclose the entire training field.
I close my eyes, picturing the chains in my head, and then I open them as I release my chakra. Chains that glow yellow shoot from my body around the training field. They create a perfect circular dome that's at least fifty feet tall. I look at the scene in front of me, my mouth hanging open in shock. It's not until Ichika tackles me that I finally start laughing. I pull back the chains and try to dodge Ichika's excited licks.
"I did it!" I eventually squeal as Ichika hops off of me.
"You did," Ai says as she enters the clearing.
"In two weeks!" Ichika says as she brushes against my side.
"It'll feel as natural as breathing in a few weeks," a squeaky voice says from one of the trees above us. I look up to see Itsuki, a golden snub-nosed monkey hanging from a branch. "My summoner used them quite often in fights, people would exhaust themselves as she just watched them."
"Is that an Uzu thing?" I ask as I look up at the monkey. He'd been hanging around - no pun intended - recently. Even more so after I started training with my chains.
"It depended on the person," Ichika says.
"It was more of an Uzumaki and Uesugi thing," Itsuki shrugs. "Uesugi were the genjutsu masters of the village so they would use genjutsu in combination with an Uzumaki's chains."
"Could I try that?" I look between Ichika and Itsuki who both shrug. I hear Ai's tired sigh and grin over at her. "Por que no los dos? I have an idea-"
"Here we go," Ren sighs as he walks through some of the trees. I smile widely and run up to him and wrap my arms around his neck. He huffs but he doesn't try to push me away.
"Missed you," I mumble into his neck.
"Missed you too, mija," he says. "Now what's this idea?" He asks as I pull away from him.
"You know those movies I like?"
"Here we go," Ichika sighs as she lays down in the grass. She's acting annoyed but she likes them, too. In my very rare free time in the last few weeks I've cleaned up one of the water mills, so now half the island has power until I fix up the other. That meant I started watching movies at night, curled up in a blanket in the living room.
"I was just saying that maybe I could use my chains before putting them in a genjutsu. They'll be focused on the movie parts, be confused, and won't spend time trying to get out of my seals!"
"They won't get tired out that way," Itsuki says.
"It depends on the movie! Imagine being stuck in a dome, nowhere else to go, and people dancing and singing circles around you? It won't drain too much of my chakra and it'll be perfect for the missions I'm sent on."
"Oh, you already know what type of missions you'll be sent on?" Ai asks as she walks over to lean against Ren.
"Tracking and interrogation," I shrug. "I'm not a heavy hitter like Naruto's team will be, I'm not quick enough to be an assassin-"
"Yet," Ichika says under her breath.
"But I'm damn good at tracking and I'll be good at keeping people in one place with my fuinjutsu!"
"You'll be a heavy hitter, mija." Ai says after I finish my speech. "You're in your first year of training, it won't be long before you're blowing things up like a typical Uzumaki."
"Pero-"
"Hime," Ren says, nosing at my hair. I huff but don't stop him. It reminds me of the deer in the Nara forest when they would come up to me when they could tell I had a bad day. "You'll also be able to travel quickly through the shadows and use them as cover for quick attacks."
"What do you mean?" I ask, looking up at the deer. He looks tired. He'd left the island for the first time since Shinya died. No one told me where he went, which led to me not sleeping or eating as much as normal for the last two days. Not having the leader of the deer on the island made everyone feel on edge.
"I have been given permission to teach you some shadow techniques."
"Qué?" I ask quietly.
"I went to the Nara forest," he says as he rests his head on top of mine. "The summoning realm is connected to it. I spoke with my brothers for the first time since Uzu fell."
"Ren," I say, my voice cracking.
"They were furious when they learned what happened," he murmurs. "The council agreed for me to teach you how to shadow travel."
"Shadow travel?"
"You slip into the shadows to move quickly and undetected," he says. "It's not a common ability known outside of Ino-Shika-Cho, but it will be useful for you. You'll be able to travel quickly in situations where you cannot use hiraishin."
"Hiraishin, I can't, I won't-"
"Konoha may have downplayed your abilities but I will not allow you to do so," Ai says fiercely. I look over to her to see her eyes are sharp as she looks at me. "You will be a fuinjutsu master by the time you reach your coming of age ceremony, hime."
"Shadow travel will also help you work with the Nara," Ren says, going back to the topic at hand. "You'll be able to step into their shadows without manipulating them or being controlled by them."
"Really?" I whisper.
"Really," he says. "Now, let's get you back to the house. You haven't had a full meal all day."
A few days after using my chains in the training field, Ichika started to take me from house to house throughout the village. I learned about the different clothing worn throughout Uzushiogakure and different things that were common in Uzushiogakure homes. I learned how to season a molcajete, use clothing to hide my seals in combat, and I finally got my own Uzushiogakure hitai-ate.
I was enjoying learning more about the village between training, reading political books, and reading through mom's notes. I'd even gotten more comfortable with my sealing chains, so much so that Ren and Ichika said I was ready to use them in a fight.
But then Ai and Ichika decided I needed a makeover.
So that's how I ended up with a pile of clothes from various houses covering the comfortable couch in our living room. Ai and Ichika were forcing me to try on everything.
It's been hours.
"Can I go train yet?"
"No," both of them snap. I sigh and sit down on the floor in front of the couch. I cross my arms as I look at the two summons. They're too focused on the clothing to even get onto me for asking to train for the tenth time in the last hour.
"Why do we have to do this now?"
"You completed your books, mija. You're at a chunin level now," Ichika says absentmindedly.
"Wait, really?" I ask as I lower my arms. Both of the summons snort before they turn to look at me.
"We really need to work on awareness," Ichika mutters before she goes back to the clothing. She holds up a dress and I scrunch my nose up.
"I'm done with dresses 'ttbane." Ichika tilts her head but nods and drops the dress in another pile. I let out a relieved sigh and lean back into the couch.
"You're not wearing those pants with all the pockets, though." Ichika says.
"Why not?"
"Because you can use seals?" She asks before she holds up a pair of green pants. I look at the fabric for a moment before I reach over and grab them. I tug them on over my shorts before looking in the mirror Ichika made me bring into the room. I slip my hands in my pockets as I look at myself in the mirror. The pants are high waisted and sit just above my belly button. They're tighter around my waist and balloon out before getting tight at the bottom. They come down to mid calf. I move around a little before nodding.
"These are good!" I say as I turn back to Ichika. She's already holding another piece of fabric. I sigh and take it from her. I slip out of my dress and tug the new shirt over my head. It's a lightweight fabric like the pants. I look in the mirror and see the burnt orange shirt comes down to about an inch above the waistline of the pants. There are no sleeves, just very thick straps at the top. It's flowy and has a somewhat deep neckline which makes my eyes go wide.
"I have boobs?" I ask as I turn to look at Ichika and Ai. Ichika starts laughing as Ai snorts. Ai picks up another piece of fabric and brings it over to me. I pout as soon as I see it. It's a bra.
"Mija, you should have known this was coming," Ichika says as she bumps against my hip. I huff and take off my shirt before putting the bra on.
"I thought I had more time," I say as I slip the shirt back over my head.
"That's what you said about your period, too." Ai says before she picks up another piece of fabric. She brings it over to me and I take it from her, holding it in my hands. It's a green haori that matches the pants I'm wearing. I look at the back and see a burnt orange Uzushiogakure symbol. I slip the haori on and look at the two summons in the room.
"One more thing!" Ichika says as she runs out of the room. I'm about to make a comment to Ai, but Ichika rushes back into the room, my Uzushiogakure hitai-ate hanging from her mouth. I take the forehead protector from her and tie it around my forehead. "Now look!" Ichika gives a feline grin that puts me on edge. I turn to look at the mirror and immediately feel myself smiling.
"I look like a shinobi!"
"Well, you are one," Ichika deadpans.
"Oh hush," Ai chides Ichika. "You look strong, hime." She says to me.
"Thanks," I say as I see my cheeks turn red in the mirror.
"Come on, we need to keep going through some of the homes," Ichika says. I turn and follow her out of the room. I'll leave the cleanup for later. I slip on my blue sandals at the front door before I follow Ichika down the dirt path towards the heart of the village.
"What are we doing today?" I ask as we start walking down one of the residential paths.
"I'm going to show you the most central piece of security in an Uzu home," Ichika says as we enter a small home at the end of the path. Ichika walks through the front door and goes straight towards the kitchen. I slip off my shoes in the genkan before I follow her. She nods up at the seashell wind chime in the window. It looks just like the one at home in our kitchen.
"Couldn't we look at the one that's in our house?" I ask her. "And what about it makes it the most central piece of security?"
"This is the oldest wind chime in the village," Ichika says as she turns to look at me. "Each seashell was collected on the beaches of Uzushiogakure. And each seashell has a different protective seal inside of it."
"Oh," I say as I look up at it. From this angle I can see one that's centered on dispelling genjutsu, and another that's a triggered barrier seal. There has to be over a hundred seashells hanging at different heights. How many protective seals are there?
"Do they work when you move them to a different area?"
"They do," Ichika says. "Although this is more of a permanent one. There are smaller ones that teams would put up in their tents when they went on missions."
"So cool," I whisper.
"Ready to go seashell hunting?" Ichika asks. I look over at her and nod. I know I'll need to make a few of these. At least one for our apartment back in Konoha. One for Naruto when he goes on his training trip with Jiraiya. One for sensei and another for Reiji-
"Focus on making a travel one for yourself first, mija," Ichika says as she starts to nudge me out of the kitchen. I pout but let her push me anyways. I would have spent all day looking at that wind chime if I had the chance.
Dear Kikuko,
I'm glad you are doing well, hime. I have to keep this letter short, but I must stress to you that you should not come back to the land of fire for your supplies while you are away.
"Well no shit," Ichika snorts beside me. I roll my eyes at her before turning back to the letter.
Some of our teams have noticed more chakra signatures along the borders. Should you need to return to Konoha, send me a letter and I will send a team to you.
"Well, that's not going to happen," I say as I fiddle with the scroll. "I'm staying away for as long as possible."
"At least until after your coming of age ceremony," Ichika says.
I am so proud of you Kikuko, and I am so sorry that you had to go home for the first time this way. I've included money in the scroll for you to restock for the next few months.
Jiji
"So," I say as I close the scroll and stretch out my legs in front of me. "Where the hell am I supposed to go for more supplies and food?"
"Kumogakure will most likely be the best place," Ichika says. "Plenty of mountains and a large enough village that you can fade into the background."
"And they were the only ones to not attack Uzu," I mumble under my breath.
"That, too." Ichika says. "There was a group that left flowers a couple of days after the explosion."
"Really?" I ask. She nods, standing from her spot in the grass. I follow her lead quickly. Ichika has a habit of running off and forcing me to track her around the island as training.
"You need to go for supplies this week," Ichika says as we walk through the village. "You'll need non-perishables, rice, some plant starters-"
"Some ramen," I say as we turn a corner. "And some more music."
"I thought you liked the music here?" Ichika asks as we get closer to the Uzukage tower.
"It's my favorite, but I listened to stuff from Kumo before I got here, too."
"How did you get a hold of that?" Ichika asks as we enter the tower.
"One of our anbu team," I shrug as we start walking up the stairs. Instead of going to the top of the tower like I thought we would, we stop on the third floor. Ichika walks down a hallway I haven't been down before. I look around to see bulletin boards every few feet covered in papers.
"Are those all task lists?" I ask Ichika as we pass another bulletin board.
"Hm? Yes." She says. "Uzushiogakure used to supply seals to other villages."
"That makes sense," I say as I follow her into a room. My mouth drops open at the sight of it. It's a large room lined with fuinjutsu stations. Large tables are positioned in the center of the room, papers are scattered across a couple of them.
"This was one of the fuinjutsu rooms, chunin were often tasked with making the seals for genin and academy instruction, as well as for other villages." I look at the end of the room to see a wall covered in shelves that are filled with different inkwells.
"I've never seen so much ink in one place in my life," I whisper as I look at them in awe.
"Enough with the heart eyes," Ichika teases. Her voice is lighter than it's been in the last few days. "Empty scrolls are over here, how many do you think you will need?" She says as she walks to the wall opposite of the inks. The wall is just one large organized bookshelf filled to the brim with scrolls of all sizes.
"It depends on how much I want to get this trip," I say as I look at the scrolls. "Enough for a couple months?"
"That sounds good," she says.
"I'll grab three scrolls for non-perishables, two for perishables, and one for food from the restaurants to bring back here?" There was no way I was going to Kumo and not trying some of their food. Our anbu team said that they loved the food there and I can feel myself practically bouncing with excitement at the thought of trying it myself.
"And a scroll for weapon maintenance supplies," Ichika says.
"And another for hygiene things," I scrunch up my nose as Ichika laughs quietly. The bad part about being alone in Uzu was that there was no birth control shot which meant I had to deal with my periods. There was a seal that kunoichi used, but according to Ichika I have to be at the jonin level in order to use it on myself.
"And one for fun purchases," Ichika finishes.
"Fun purchases?" I ask as I start grabbing some medium sized scrolls.
"Like you can go there without getting a stuffed animal," Ichika rolls her eyes as she walks towards the ink wall. I shake my head at her but don't try to argue. I do have a lot of stuffed animals on my bed that I'd brought from Konoha. But most of them were gifts!
I let out a small huff as I drop all the scrolls on one of the empty large tables before following Ichika over to the inks. Each shelf has a different type of ink. I skim through the different labels until I find standard ink. I grab a plain black inkwell before Ichika gets my attention.
"This ink should do well for your clothing," she says. I walk over to see a mixture of brightly colored and muted inks. "Go for this green one," she nods towards a large green inkwell that almost matches my haori and pants.
"Why do I need this for my clothes?" I ask as I pick up the bottle and walk back to the table. In the center of each long table is a bin filled with different pens. I grab a standard size one and immediately start on the stasis storage seals for the perishable foods.
"What else are you going to put your scrolls in?" She asks.
"A bag?" I look over at her and she shakes her head.
"The last thing you want to have is a bag, it will bring attention to you. Did you always carry a bag around in Konoha?"
"Uh, kinda?" I say as I turn back to the scroll. "I always wanted to be prepared when we were training and I didn't want to put too much in my seal." I look down at the inside of my left wrist to see the symbol of Uzushiogakure. I'd practically emptied the seal, the only thing left in it now that I'm in Uzu is my hair pins in case I need them.
"You just need to make standard storage seals like you do with scrolls on your clothing. Once the ink dries, you won't be able to tell there's a seal there."
"Really?" I ask as I look from the ink bottle to my haori. "Then I'll just need to sense where they are?" Ichika nods as she puts her front paws on the table to watch over my work.
"We can work on that later, for now focus on getting these scrolls done. You may be able to head out as soon as tomorrow."
"Alright," I grin as I look back down at the seal I'm working on. "Let's do this."