Against the World

"You don't need to use genjutsu to create illusions."

-x-

It took me a long time to realize how lucky I am. Most no-name orphans end up as canon fodder. They used to think it was impossible for one to be a genius, a prodigy. But Namikaze Minato changed that.

So they started looking closer, paying attention. Most still end up dead on the battlefield. Most aren't going to amount to anything special if they do survive.

Being picked out as special early on guaranteed that any teachers I had actually cared and trained me seriously.

I was lucky.

But then again, I wasn't quite a no-name orphan, exactly.

-x-

Twelve

By the time we returned to the village, Kushina-sensei had already been sent back out. Part of me was relieved that I didn't have to face her yet, but a larger part of me was worried that, that night would be the last I saw of her.

It wasn't a pleasant feeling, and I knew that when she came back, I'd have to speak with her to clear the air. (It was definitely when she came back. Not if.)

Unlike the last time Sensei was out fighting, I found myself recruited by the village to take on some of the seal work in her place. As the apprentice of the village's Seal Master, I was technically considered the interim Seal Master, despite the fact that Minato-san was quite obviously more skilled than me. As such, much of her work fell to me. I wasn't naive enough to believe I was taking on everything though. It was not hard to deduce that everything I was working on was at or below my skill level, and nothing was classified.

I learned quite a bit through it all, actually. Nothing about sealing, but plenty about how things worked behind the scenes.

One of my jobs was to check that the stamps used to mass produce seals lacked any flaws. The task seemed beneath me, but evidently most lacked the ability to determine if there are any errors in a basic exploding tag or storage seal. A handful had to be tossed out due to manufacturing flaws, but most were of decent quality and would work just fine, even if the designs were unnecessarily complicated and convoluted.

More commonly, I was essentially told "make us a seal that does this specific thing." I was vexed to discover that the limit of the ineptitude of these people was obviously approaching infinity. Do these pathetic excuses of sentient life even understand that sealing isn't magic? That there are limits to what it can accomplish? That sealing doesn't fucking work that way, you mentally deficient centipedes?

Someone wanted us to make a mind control seal! Seriously, who even let that get this far? It was completely impossible. How dare people waste my time on this sort of nonsense? I'll never get those hours back!

For every towering stack of proposals, only maybe two or three were actually worth doing. The rest I was to sort into piles. One pile for proposals that are outside the limits of seals, another for seals that were mundane, a third for ones suggesting ones that already exist, and finally a pile of the more dubious requests.

I put things like "a seal to clean my teeth" in the mundane pile, and I won't even get into the kind of seals that made it into the dubious pile. Suffice to say they were possible, but they sounded dangerous enough that I wouldn't go making them without direct approval from the Hokage. I don't think some people realized how badly somethings could be abused. Not that I didn't find myself making note of some of them in the back of my mind.

Sorting everything was a pain. Fortunately, I had access to the stamps Kushina-sensei used for her paper work, so I could complete things more efficiently.

I took great pleasure in stamping "REJECTED" onto the ludicrous proposals, either accompanied by "STUPID" or "IMPOSSIBLE."

But by far my favourite part was creating the seals along the guidelines of the actually useful proposals. Some of them were straightforward, but others I had to think about for a couple days and do some research. I loved the challenge.

-x-

I could count the number of times I'd seen my team in the month since Sensei left on one hand, and still have fingers to spare. It was unfortunate, but our schedules did not align.

All the paperwork I was doing kept me from doing any missions, though each week I was paid as if I completed a B-rank. It was time consuming, and by the time I was finished, I barely had time to keep up with my physical conditioning. I could practically feel my skew sliding back towards the spiritual end of the spectrum. All that progress and hard work, lost.

My teammates were busy too. Though they had plenty of time for team and individual instruction, they were occupied with their own tasks. I wasn't sure what Aiko was up to, but I'd frequently heard about how busy Sakura was at the hospital. And from what I'd seen, it wasn't hard to see that the hospital was busy, either.

There were certain rooftop areas that were to be kept clear of traffic. These areas were the paths from the gates to the hospital. The purpose of them was so that severely injured ninja can get to the hospital without others getting in the way.

The paths had a lot of activity, lately. From what I heard, things were getting pretty bad out there, and field medics were just patching their patients up so they'd last long enough to get back here and get real medical attention.

I tried to ignore it—it wasn't my business. But then one day I recognized someone.

Kakashi-senpai.

I stopped where I was, and fixed my gaze on the silver haired ninja. He was being carried over the rooftops by three ninja. Two were supporting him, and one appeared to be a medic, who was continuing treatment as they moved.

That wasn't a good sign.

I licked my lips, my eyes following him until they couldn't any more.

I didn't know him that well. I'd only met him a couple times, and the last time hadn't exactly gone well. But... from what I did know, I liked him. He didn't treat me like I was a kid.

With a sigh, I continued on to the Hokage tower. Even if I followed him to the hospital right now, no one would tell me anything. It was pointless, and I had work to do.

For now.

-x-

Two days later I went to visit Kakashi-senpai in the hospital. Initially, the receptionists were hesitant to tell me which room he was in. I suppose they thought I was some random child trying to get in to see a famous ninja. However a bit of name dropping and back up from a medic who knew Sakura got me through.

"Kakashi-senpai?" I said hesitantly as I knocked on his half closed door.

He responded with a grunt. Unsure of his ambiguous response, I poked my head in the room. Kakashi-senpai, who was laying in bed, heavily bandaged and with several machines hooked up to him, lifted his head from the pillow. "Sekai-kun?" he asked blearily. I nodded, and he gestured for me to come in.

I did as he bade, and took a seat in the chair beside his hospital bed. Unsure of what to say, I kept my mouth shut until he broke the awkward silence.

"How did you know I was here?" he asked in a tone that made it clear he was also wondering why I was here.

"I saw you when they were carrying you here." I replied, wetting my lips as my fingers tapped at my knees. "It was concerning."

"Ah."

Silence fell upon us once more, and this time I was the one who broke it. "How bad is it?"

He winced. "Pretty bad." It was clear he intended to leave it there, but I gave him a hard look, so he elaborated. "If I wasn't me, they wouldn't have bothered bringing back, and just made it as quick and painless as they could."

I sucked in breath through my teeth, and let out a stream of English curses. "How long will you be here?"

"Awhile." He groaned. "I hate it here, but even I know it would be suicide to leave before the end of the week."

"That's not too long." I encouraged, earning a snort in response. "What?"

"I'll probably be here for a couple months."

"What—why? Is it really that bad?"

"Sort of," he said, attempting to shrug a shoulder, but wincing at the movement. "They won't let me go home without supervision, and everyone I know well enough is out of the village for the foreseeable future."

"I see."

And then a thought struck me. Don't do it, Sekai. Don't do it. Bad Idea, part of me screamed, but I opened my mouth regardless.

"I... am in village until Sensei returns." I blurted. Abort! Abort!

"...Sekai-kun?"

"Aside from my training, I am usually occupied with paperwork. Which can be done anywhere." I continued.

"Are you trying say what I think you are?" Kakashi asked, eyes wide and glassy.

"I... Suppose." I replied. "If you'd prefer it to the alternative."

And that was how I found myself temporarily moving into Hatake Kakashi's apartment four days later.

-x-

Looking back, I was fairly certain Kakashi-senpai must have been drugged out of his mind when he agreed to my proposal, and I wasn't quite sure what was wrong with me when I offered, but clearly something was.

Still, we went through the processes of convincing the medics that though I look like a five year old, I am actually seven and already a genin, thus I am perfectly capable of taking care of Kakashi-senpai while he is injured. I'm not sure they really thought it was a good idea, but they relented in the end. Likely because it freed up a bed for someone else.

When he was finally discharged from the hospital, we faced the problem of how to get him home. The man was too weak to make it back on his own—he could barely stand without support, and I was far too small to do so. We stood around outside like a pair of idiots while we tried to figure out how to get to his apartment. We must have been quite a sight—an obviously injured man only managing to stand with the support of a crutch and a small child.

After a bit of debate, Kakashi-senpai sighed as if he was about to do something he really preferred not so.

"Give me your hand," he ordered, holding his right hand. When I tentatively did so, I felt a strong zap through my chakra system.

"What the bloody fucking hell, putain! Asshole! Connard! Que-faites vous! You god damn bastard! Putain!" I swore in a mix of French and English. The older ninja just looked at me strangely.

"What did you do?" I repeated so he could understand me. He ignored me, and bit his thumb until it bled.

"Boar, dog, bird, monkey, ram, place your palm flat on the ground and step back." He instructed, smearing his blood on my hand. "This jutsu is chakra heavy. For it to work, you needed a bit of my chakra for it. I forced some into your system."

Hesitant, but trusting Kakashi-senpai, I did as be bade. With a puff of smoke, a huge, dark grey dog.

Oh. My. God. Instant Doggo!

"Hey Bull," Kakashi-senpai greeted. "I need you to help me back to my apartment and show Sekai-kun the way. By roof."

The dog nodded it's head, and lowered itself to its stomach. With my help, Kakashi-senpai mounted the dog, who stood.

I took a step back, and found that calling the beast huge was an understatement. Bull was taller than me! Then again, that was hardly saying much...

-x-

Kakashi-senpai's apartment wasn't what I expected. The wooden floor was all scratched up, and half the living room was dedicated to a pile of worn pillows and blankets, with a half dozen dogs sleeping on it. The remaining half was filled with a couch and a small coffee table. The kitchen was fairly standard, and rather clean, as was the bathroom.

"You have dogs." I commented. The man, who was settled on the couch, gave me a dead stare that seemed to say no, really? I ignored it and approached the dogs. Their eyes opened, and I stopped just short of them, and held out my hand for them to sniff. "I'm Sekai. I'll be looking after Kakashi-senpai for awhile. May I pet you?"

The smallest one, I think it was a pug, came up to me, sniffed my hand, and gave what I thought was the dog equivalent of a shrug. "Sure." he said.

I blinked a few times, startled by the fact that he could talk, but reached out to pet him regardless.

"A little higher, right under the chin... yeah, that's it..." The pug mumbled, and a small smile pulled at my lips. "Yeah, I like you, pup. The name's Pakkun."

"Thank you. It's wonderful to meet you."

"So what's the story here, Kakashi?" The pug asked as he rolled over so I could rub his belly.

Kakashi-senpai sighed. "She's Kushina-nee's apprentice. They wouldn't let me out of the hospital without someone to supervise me at home, and everyone is out of the village at the moment, so she offered. She'll be staying with us for a few weeks."

"Right. Can you watch him for me while I fetch my things, Pakkun-chan?" I asked the adorable fur baby. "I won't be long."

"Sure." he nodded.

"You're really going to let her call you that?" Kakashi-senpai muttered as I walked out the door.

"Why not?" I heard Pakkun say just as it closed.

-x-

The logistics of staying with Kakashi-senpai were a bit awkward to work out.

Nominally, I was sleeping on the couch, but more often than not I ended up joining the dogs on the other side of the living room. The big one, who's name was Bull, took quite a liking to me, and would curl around me protectively as I slept.

As for my work space and storing my belongings... Well, Kakashi-senpai wasn't supposed to move much, and the meds I'd been instructed to give the man really knocked him out, so I was left to figure it out on my own.

It felt weird, like I was invading his space, even though really I was the one doing him a favour.

I still had no idea why I offered, and found myself really wishing that I hadn't.

But at the same time, it was nice not being alone all the time. The Kakashi-senpai's pack was always around and more than willing to be subjected to belly rubs and ear scratches. Ever since that mission out to Red Bean Country, I had barely seen my team, or anyone else really. I hadn't even had time to visit Hanako.

For someone who just over a year ago preferred solitude to the company of others, I felt pathetic about how lonely I was.

-x-

Three weeks into my stay with Kakashi-senpai, he had finally healed enough to be taken off the good stuff and move around a bit, which led to actually seeing and interacting with him and not just his dogs.

"Why are they keeping you in village?" he asked one day as I went through as much of my work out routine as I could in his apartment.

"Sensei is the village seal master," I explained, flipping onto my hands. "As her apprentice, I take over when she's gone."

"They're having you do that already?" My temporary roommate raised a silver eyebrow. "You must have a real talent for seals."

I did my best to shrug my shoulders while doing a hand stand, but it was a bit awkward.

"Maa," he sighed. "I suppose that's to be expected of Leaf's latest genius prodigy."

I scoffed. "I may be smart," I said as I shifted into a seated position. "But I'm not a genius."

There was a long stretch of silence where Kakashi-senpai just stared at me. "You really believe that, don't you?" he said, finally.

"Excuse me?"

"You really think you're not a genius." he repeated incredulously. "I don't know where you got the idea that you're anything but abnormally intelligent, but you're definitely a genius."

"Not really." I said awkwardly. I was, essentially, an adult in a child's body. "It hardly matters if I am or not, regardless."

"If you say so, Sekai-kun."

"...I need to go, I have a training session with Shisui-senpai." I said. "Don't do anything stupid. Pakkun-chan will tell me if you do. Right?"

"You got it, kid." The pug replied, and held his paw up for a high five, which I of course gave him.

"Traitor," Kakashi mumbled as he sent a one-eyed glare at his ninken. "You're not supposed to take other people's sides."

-x-

Training with Shisui-senpai was... interesting to say the least. While his younger cousin was teaching me to use simple genjutsu and how to best use them, Shisui-senpai was teaching me how to dispel the illusions. Which, despite my aptitude for casting genjutsu, was not something I excelled at.

To be frank, I fucking sucked.

Sure, I could notice if he made a sudden or obvious change in the environment, and then dispel it. But if it was something more subtle? Yeah, I couldn't tell where it started and where it ended.

"Sekai-chan..." Shisui lamented, a crestfallen expression upon face as he shook his head. "How can you be so bad at this?"

I could feel the blood rush to my cheeks, and looked away. "Fuck off." I muttered. "I'm trying my best."

"I know you are, Sekai-chan." He agreed. "How about you tell me what it's like for you when you're under a genjutsu?"

"It really doesn't feel any different than usual." I admitted. "If something is obviously different, I can deduce that I've been placed under a genjutsu and break it, but your more subtle illusions? Where nothing overtly changes? I don't notice."

Shisui-senpai hummed in acknowledgement. "I see. Well then, I think I have an idea."

"Oh?" I prompted with a tilt of my head.

"Well, I'm on medical leave for the next few weeks or so, and you said you're in village for the foreseeable future, yeah?" I nodded. "Well then, you're going to meditate and focus on the flow of your chakra. And I," he puffed up dramatically. "Shall follow you around and cast genjutsu on you when you least suspect it. Eventually, as you familiarize yourself with the flow of your chakra, you should be able to detect my interference."

"What sort of genjutsu will you be using on me?" I questioned warily.

"Harmless stuff, don't worry." he dismissed. "Nothing that will interfere with your training and duties."

I let out a small sigh and agreed.

-x-

Meditation was boring. Initially, I believed I could go through my kata as I did so, but found that even that was distracting from my concentration on my chakra flow. Which meant that I basically had to be stationary while meditating. I could just imagine how much this was setting back reducing my skew, especially since I already had other factors negatively impacting it.

It was also difficult to keep my focus on my chakra generally. It was so boring—my mind kept drifting to ideas about how to figure out proofs I'd been having trouble with, sealing ideas, and, well. Anything, really.

It was frustrating. It sucked. I hated it. But it was important, so I did it.

Not that it seemed to do much good, though.

For example, one day I had a lesson with Shisui, and he led me around the extensive Uchiha owned land. He said that while I worked on detecting genjutsu via the alteration in my chakra flow, I should also work on detecting small inconsistencies, like smells and sounds. So he took me to a flower field and had me smell a bunch of flowers, then altered their appearance with genjutsu and had me guess at which flower it was by smell. When we were finished, I decided to take a carnation back with me, and sealed it away in my arm. When I returned to Kakashi-senpai's apartment, I unsealed it, only to find that there was no flower, only a taunting note mocking my difficulty with detecting genjutsu.

It was humiliating, especially when I had to explain to Kakashi-senpai why Uchiha Shisui was stalking me. (Of course he noticed, no matter that he was still far from fully recovered, and I had no idea when that stupid Uchiha was following me and when he wasn't.)

It was, however, an excellent motivator in regards to the meditation. And by the time it was five weeks into the new year, I was able to detect when Shisui-senpai's chakra was meddling with my mind more often than not.

Of course, instead of being proud of my achievements, he sulked. The little reprobate found joy in making a fool of me.

Though, I must admit, if I were in his position, I wouldn't behave much differently than him.

-x-

The first time I saw Aiko and Sakura since my stay at Kakashi-senpai's home was in early February, and a complete coincidence.

Since I'd finally made progress with detecting genjutsu, I decided to treat myself to some sweets at Suzuki Kashiya. I was enjoying an entire cake to myself when they entered the shop.

They didn't seem to notice me at first, so I let them order in peace, and then waved at them once they started to look for seating. They startled when they noticed me, and exchanged a look that I couldn't quite read. Nevertheless, I could tell that something was... off, to say the least, and gripped my knees.

"Hey," Aiko said with a half smile and awkward wave. "It's been awhile, huh?"

I nodded. "Yes, I've been extremely busy ever since Kushina-sensei was sent out."

"Oh?" Sakura said, her voice a tad higher than typical.

I nodded again. "Yes, I've taken over much of her sealing work for the village. I'm not sure how she does it all on top of teaching me, spending time with her family, and all that. How have the two of you been?"

"Busy." They replied in unison, despite having full mouths.

"Lots of hospital work, training and C-ranks." Sakura added once she swallowed.

"Yeah. I've been working closely with Kairi-sensei, and stuff."

"I figured." I replied. "I've missed you two, but I haven't seen you around much."

"Yeah..." Aiko mumbled awkwardly.

I licked my lips, and couldn't help but think they were avoiding me.

"I'd hoped to come here with the two of you for my birthday, a few weeks back, but I couldn't find either of you." I said, testing the waters.

"I-it was your birthday?" Sakura squeaked. "When?"

"A little over a month ago, on new year's eve."

"Oh! I'm sorry. I didn't know." My pink haired teammate cringed guiltily as she apologized.

"Yeah, sorry." Aiko said. "I wasn't even in the village."

"It's fine," I shook my head. "We've all been busy. But I need to get back to work. Sorry to cut this short."

"It's fine!" The two hurriedly chorused.

"It was lovely to see you," I said as I packed up the remainder of my cake. "Hopefully I'll see you soon."

With that, I left Suzuki Kashiya and headed for the training grounds.

I had thought Sakura and Aiko had been busy, and not had time, but after speaking with them it was obvious they were avoiding me. The only question was why? What had I done?

-x-

Notes: Poor Sekai. Just why are her friends avoiding her?

It amuses me to see that so far Shikamaru is winning the poll on my profile, since I already know he is definitely not ending up with Sekai. Behind him are Shisui, Itachi and Kakashi, though not in that order.

How does Kushina handle all the menial work that comes with being the village Seal Master? Shadow clones. Poor Sekai doesn't have that option.

Gotta admit, the mind control seal thing is a dig at a misogynist in the reviews. I'm sure you could recognize him if you look.

In other news, they've got Kakashi on the good stuff. I'm basing Sekai performing the technique for Kakashi on the fact that Kabuto did so for Orochimaru, if I remember correctly. If I'm wrong, oops, now it works that way. At least for Kakashi's summons. Because they're not like others. Yeah. Totally. (No really, I'll get into that later, though.)

Sekai is no worse at detecting genjutsu than most ninja. She was just expected to be better at it due to being a "genjutsu type."

This has now been cross posted to AO3. So if you prefer, head on over there. To those reading this on AO3, welcome to AtW! Thanks for reading.

This was barely proof read, sorry. I just wanted to publish it. Happy non-denominational winter holidays everyone!

Love, TheMathemagician

P.S. I will be posting a little... crack bonus story on new years. I decided to only publish it on AO3. The bonus story is just some humour, and not at all canon. It just sort of popped into my mind.