Against the World
"It's only fitting for legends to have grand beginnings."
-x-
"I understand she's your student, Kushina, but she's upsetting your son. He thinks you're replacing him!" Minato bellowed, looming behind Kushina as she stirred a pot far too aggressively. Liquid splashed out of the pot with her harsh movements, but she didn't care.
"It's hardly her fault, Minato! She deserves to have people who love her! Naruto is just jealous—like Kakashi was when he was born. He needs to learn to get over it!" she hissed furiously.
"It's not just jealousy, Kushina! You never spend any time alone with him anymore—she's always there, and you take her side whenever they argue. The way Naruto sees it, you didn't have time for him before, always busy with R&D work or running missions, but then out of the blue you make time for a complete stranger. He sees you treat her like a daughter, Kushina, but doesn't feel you treat him as your son. You punish him for causing problems, even when it's Sekai who starts them! And he's not wrong, Kushina You prioritize her over your own flesh and blood!"
"It's not like I have a choice! It's part of my fucking job!" Kushina screeched, slamming a second pot down on the stove and violently turning on the burner. "At least since I started teaching I'm actually around more, even if Sekai is here too."
"You don't have to invite her over all the time!" Minato insisted.
Kushina glared at him. "I told you, I don't have a choice! I'm—I can't... You think I don't know how my son feels? You think I don't know how inadequate she makes him feel? Like he's not good enough? Like I'd rather have her? Well I know how he feels, Minato! I'm not blind! And I don't like it, either!"
"Then why the fuck do you do it!?"
"Orders, Minato! I'm under orders!" she snapped, then took a deep breath and deflated, the fight leaving her.
Minato recoiled a bit, not expecting that response. "What do you mean by that?" he asked quietly.
"She... Sekai is a coerced recruit, Minato. And she's smart enough to figure it out if we're not careful. And if she does—or more realistically, when she does...She won't be happy. We need to make sure that won't drive her away."
Minato ran a hand through his hair. "...I didn't realize. But that's—"
"I wasn't done, Minato." Kushina interrupted her husband. "Like I said, she's a coerced recruit. They wanted her. Badly. I don't know how or when she caught anyone's attention, but she did.I don't know who either. They have high expectations for her. They've been watching her for longer than I like to think about."
"Is that what happened—" Minato began, voice barely above a whisper, but Kushina cut him off.
"Don't. You know better." Her voice was firm, scolding, but just as quiet. Even being who they were, it wasn't something they should talk about. At least not in the kitchen where anyone could walk in. She was already stretching it by discussing Sekai's status.Louder, she continued her previous train of thought. "She has no close ties, Minato. She has no family in the village, and almost no friends, besides a dying old woman and maybe her teammates. There's nothing tying her to the village."
Understanding dawned on her husband's face. "...You're trying to create those ties. Her loyalty to Hidden Leaf is questionable at best. You're ordered to ensure it. By bringing her into the family."
Kushina nodded sadly. "It's not her fault. She's a sweet girl, Minato. In her own way. I do genuinely care about her. But Naruto's jealousy is making it hard for her to really bond with us..."
"What you're doing isn't working. You need to handle Naruto or this won't work."
"I don't know how. God, what kind of mother am I? I don't even know how to fix things with my son." Kushina buried her head in her husband's shoulder, choking back a sob. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight.
"I'll help you. With both of them." he promised.
-x-
Twenty Two
Just over twenty minutes after we departed with Itachi, the explosive tags went off and set the forest aflame. We were probably a good fifteen kilometres away by that time, and well out of the quarter of a kilometre blast radius of the tags.
Leaf had few interests in Hot Water Country, so we didn't have to worry about serious political ramifications. Cloud, on the other hand, received a lot of their lumber from Hot Water County's forests and the two countries had much closer ties between their Daimyo. I wouldn't be surprised if at least some of the Cloud forces stopped to put out the fires.
Furthermore, the blast was far enough from any towns or villages that they wouldn't be damaged in the initial explosion, but they were in danger if the fires didn't get under control. We may be the ones responsible for the actual explosion and fires, but as participants in the conflict with a positive relationship to Hot Water, Cloud would face a lot of ire if they didn't clean up the mess when they could.
Hopefully they decided appeasing Hot Water was more important than killing us. And hopefully at least a few of them got caught in the initial explosion.
As Itachi predicted, we arrived at the second rendezvous point around midnight, by which point everyone else had been told about Mist's aid. Despite his insistence on accompanying my team, we made it without any further enemy encounters.
This rendezvous point was not near one of the country's large lakes, but instead a much smaller one that didn't make it onto maps and that I didn't know the name of. There was a forest line on one side, the lake on the other, and a good bit of open space in between. I supposed he proximity to the lake made sense, given Mist's affinity for water ninjutsu. Having a water source nearby was certainly an asset.
The darkness of the night was the perfect contrast to the burning horizon behind us. I wasn't actually sure if the continued burning was because Cloud didn't care enough to do damage control, or if it was because even with water ninjutsu and a nearby lake, a forest fire was difficult to put out.
I couldn't help but feel a shiver go down my spine when we stopped. Though the distant fire gave more illumination than there would be otherwise, it was dark and difficult to see more than a few metres ahead. Yet I felt like I was being watched, despite not being able to detect anyone. Based on what Itachi said, I was fairly certain there were Mist ninja hiding in the area, well aware of out presence.
"The Great Fire has come. How many Flames have passed before us?" Itachi said, seemingly to no one. I had to bite back a snort. Was that some sort of code phrase? It sounded fucking stupid, and was pretty obvious what it meant. Then again, it was almost certainly the phrasing that mattered. If someone went hey, I'm the dude in charge. How many other Leaf ninja have made it? I don't think they'd get a friendly response.
A deep, seemingly disembodied voice responded. It sounded like it was coming from every direction at once. "The Largest Ocean welcomes you. Two Undiminished Flames have joined the Waves."
So two other intact groups had made it. Largest Ocean probably meant the guy speaking was the one in charge of the Mist contingent. Joined the Waves probably meant they were present. God, the whole thing sounded so fucking pretentious. Like something out of a bad spy novel.
Itachi seemed to lose some tension. Perhaps he had been worried about the other groups, or perhaps he was relieved to hear the code he expected.
He turned to me, his expression solemn. "Will you be staying or going, Sekai-kun?"
Aiko and Sakura tensed. They were unaware that I may not be continuing on to safety with them. I met Aiko's eyes and apologized, explaining that she and Sakura could not stay, but I would be. She pursed her lips, but nodded. She grabbed Sakura's hand to assure her that this was okay.
I turned to face Itachi, meeting his crimson eyes. "Staying."
"Very well. Sekai-kun and I will be staying. Can two of you accompany the other four from here on?" he requested, seemingly to no one.
Instead of a disembodied voice answering again, a man appeared as if from nowhere. He was tall, with bandages covering the lower part of his face, much like Kakashi-sanpai's mask, and had a massive sword strapped to his back. He seemed vaguely familiar, like I may have seen him before, but I wasn't sure where. I'd never met a Mist ninja before, despite our rather close alliance.
"This the priority?" he asked, eyeing Sakura and Aiko.
"That's right, Momochi-san." Itachi said, but shifted his gaze towards me as well. Momochi followed it, and raised an eyebrow, but nodded.
"Understood. I can spare Seki and Hashitaka." As if summoned by their names, two other ninja emerged from the darkness. Both male, seeming to be in their early twenties. He turned to them. "Escort them. Keep them safe, or it's on your head, understand?"
"Yes, Zabuza-sama." They chorused, then turned to the others. "If you're ready, we shall proceed immediately."
Ah, Momochi Zabuza. I hadn't paid quite as much attention to foreign sections, but he'd been in several of the old bingo books I'd looked through.
Everyone turned to Itachi, who nodded his approval. Without further ado, they immediately took their leave.
"Haku." Zabuza called, and a fourth Mist ninja appeared. This one was quite young, perhaps mid-teens, and incredibly pretty. Probably the prettiest person I'd ever seen. That was seriously saying something considering I spent so much time with some of the Uchiha clan's finest. The boy didn't speak, just waited patiently for Zabuza to continue. "I'm assigning you to these two, unless you have any objections, Uchiha?"
Itachi stared at the boy, head tilted, considering. He lingered on the boy's forehead protector, or perhaps more accurately the pin on it. Red. I wasn't actually sure if Mist used the same system, but if they did, this boy was an elite jounin. Considering that we were in a fairly strong alliance and it was information that would be helpful when interacting with each other, I was going to assume it was a joint system.
For this boy to be an elite jounin at such a young age meant he was very likely just as prodigious as Itachi. From my understanding, Zabuza was not assigning him to follow our orders. No, if that was what he meant he would have said he was assigning the boy to Itachi. He wouldn't assign a jounin to obey a chuunin. What Zabuza meant was that he was assigning him to protect us, or more likely, me. That meant Zabuza, that Mist was taking my value seriously.
While it was good in the sense that it meant I was going to be protected, it was a bit concerning for Mist to know I was valuable at this point.
With our alliance strong and necessary, it was fine. But in the future? Once the war is over? There would be no telling what could happen. The fact that I was valuable now, while still mostly anonymous and untested, said my worth wasn't in my fighting capabilities. That indicated my value would last beyond the war.
While it wasn't exactly top secret on the level that Aiko's doujutsu was, it wasn't common knowledge that Kushina-sensei was the village's Seal Master, despite her wide renown across the nations. In fact, most Leaf nin seemed to think Minato-san was. (Likely because he was often the one sent to do the "don't mess with seals" talk when required, which was more often than I had expected given how few seal makers get recruited. Perhaps he was a bit too good at that speech.) My eventual status as village Seal Master would similarly be kept fairly quiet. Seal master's were incredibly valuable on their own, but the village Seal Master (with a capital 'M') was privy to many of the village's secrets and defences.
Hopefully, Mist would not deduce my exact importance, but if (or more likely, when)I used my chains that would be a big hint.
The case of Aiko and Sakura was a bit different than mine. Aiko's clear clan affiliation was enough to explain her value to some extent. Her position as second in line to inherit headship was enough for her to be important, we ccould give them that. Perhaps Mist would wonder if there was anything else to it, but they were more likely to conclude that Aiko was actually first in line and the other heir was a decoy than that Aiko is developing a bloodline limit. Itachi would probably share that she may have knowledge Cloud was trying desperately to cover up in order to spare her further scrutiny on that matter. A clan heir with valuable information would be the perfect explanation for making her a priority.
Meanwhile, Sakura was a medic. Those were valuable in general, though perhaps not quite valuable enough to justify further escort. On the other hand, Sakura was advancing quickly and soon there would be no hiding her connection to Tsunade. Having Mist find out a year or two early wasn't concerning.
Eventually, Itachi nodded at the boy. "As long as he's willing to cooperate, that is acceptable."
"Of course, Uchiha-san." The boy said politely. "You will have my full cooperation."
(Haku, the boy's name was Haku. I was trying to be better about names, and this was a boy who had just been ordered to protect me. Remembering was the least I could do.)
I waved at Haku, feeling awkward and uncertain. I wasn't actually familiar with proper protocol for interacting with foreign allies and I didn't want to mess up like I did with the commander on base and cause an international incident.
Zabuza snorted, but Haku smiled kindly, and wow. If I thought he was pretty before, he was absolutely otherworldly when he smiled. Thank god I wasn't a teenager yet, because if I had to deal with Haku and hormones that would not be pretty.
-x-
After we concluded our discussion of any important matters the Mist nin returned to their hiding places and Itachi and I made use of our own stealth skills while we laid in wait for Cloud's forces or the last group of Leaf nin.
(The last group did not arrive.)
The first Cloud group arrived twenty minutes later. Since this was where we wanted them, we would have to draw their attention here. That meant we needed something big, something flashy.
Fire (and consequently explosives) were a bad idea. We didn't want to start another forest fire, because that could get out of hand very quickly and force us to leave the area, which was chosen for the tactical advantage of the nearby water source.
Water was no good either. We had plenty, but it wouldn't draw attention. Ditto earth and wind.
Lightning, on the other hand, was perfect for several reasons. The illumination would draw attention and while Cloud ninja were hardly the only ones skilled with lightning ninjutsu, it wouldn't be wise for a Leaf nin to use something so attention grabbing when fleeing. It would very likely be taken as a sign that a Cloud team had finally caught up with us and summon more of them our way.
We wanted as many of them drawn here as possible to keep those who went on ahead safe and the location of the Mist base a secret. There were cells of Mist nin lying in wait between here and the final location Itachi had signalled. Each cell was adept at Mist's silent killing technique. They would pick off anyone who got too close before they even knew what was happening. For this to work though, it required that we didn't let too many get past us.
Itachi made the opening move. We didn't want them to realize that we had joined up with allies quite yet. The Mist nin needed to remain hidden for just a little while longer. Similarly, too many Leaf nin in one area was suspicious. For now the others hid as well.
He darted towards the four Cloud nin, fingers twisting through hand signs faster than the unenhanced eye could see. Once he was right in front of them he unleashed the jutsu.
"Lightning Release: Electromagnetic Murder." A wave of lightning seemed to explode from his hand, crashing into them. They screamed in pain, but were quickly silenced by the slash of a kunai to the throat, courtesy of yours truly.
I couldn't help but smirk at the way Itachi announced the jutsu. It was completely unnecessary. All it did was tell the victims what was coming when it was too late for them to do anything about it. A flex, if you will, that he had stolen one of Cloud's prized lightning ninjutsu, very likely only hours earlier. This whole thing only served to make Itachi stronger.
Hopefully, the large lightning jutsu and their screams attracted the attention we needed.
I released two chains from my back, which glowed in the darkness. Itachi and I ran around the area, not bothering to try and be quiet. The noise and light of my chains would help draw people to us. It would let them know someone was still here.
It wasn't long before another team arrived. This one we played with. We didn't go for the immediate kill, we let them make some noise, but kept them too busy to signal an ambush if they caught on to what was happening. They were still unaware of Mist's presence and the other Cloud nin being dead didn't necessarily mean anything other than that Itachi and I had ultimately over powered them. But if they looked closely and realized that the corpses of their comrades showed that they were the victims of lightning release, not the users, they might realize something was off. It was best to keep them busy.
A third team arrived shortly after, and that's when we turned up the heat again. Itachi used a simple but eye catching lightning ninjutsu to take down one of his opponents.
I started targeting them with genjutsu, catching them one by one and slaughtering them until none were left.
A fourth and fifth team arrived at nearly the same time. They recoiled at the number of bodies strewn about the area, looking towards Itachi and me with fear evident in their expression.
One of them ran through a series of hand signs, and I tensed, ready to move at a moments notice, but all it did was release a massive burst of light. It burned my eyes and I was forced to snap them shut. I brought up my chains and spiralled them around myself protectively.
Was Itachi okay? His eyes were a valuable weapon. I wasn't sure if this could fuck with his sharingan or not.
The light dimmed, and I hesitantly opened my eyes. I had to blink away the bright dots dancing across my vision as my eyes adjusted. I felt someone come close and leapt away, unsure if it was an ally or enemy.
It was another few seconds before my vision returned to normal, and I saw that it was was just Itachi. He still had his sharingan activated, but continued to blink rapidly for several more seconds.
While the jutsu could very well have been an attack designed to target Itachi's doujutsu, it was also undoubtedly a signal.
Both teams of Cloud nin, however, had perished during my distraction. Though our friends from Mist had not emerged from hiding, the icy senbon littering the bodies was evidence that they had acted to protect us while we were disabled.
"You okay?" I asked in a hushed voice.
"Yes, it just took a moment." Itachi assured me. He had stopped blinking so much.
We ran out of time to talk when the next wave of foes arrived. This time it wasn't just a pursuit team or two. It was at least a hundred of them, all at once.
My lips twitched in excitement. It was time for the tide of this battle to turn in our favour.
-x-
The expression on their faces once they realized we had reinforcements was priceless.
They charged at the two of us, but before the could reach us two thin but nearly unbreakable sheets of ice appeared before us, halting their attacks. Haku emerged from one of the sheets and charged the shocked Cloud nin. His finger tips were glowing with chakra, and each blow that he landed left the skin it made contact with black. Frost bite.
A second, smaller boy leapt out of the second sheet with some sort of short sword made from ice in hand. He was a viscous thing, going right for the neck of anyone in front of him. Like Haku's taijutsu, this boy's sword left blackened skin on contact.
Meanwhile I leapt back and began casting genjutsu. I was using a simple modification of the usual blinding genjutsu to give the targets severe tunnel vision. Coupled with the darkness of the night it would greatly limit their vision without being too obvious.
Itachi stayed close to me, but out of the way of my chains. His eyes were spinning, indicating that he was casting genjutsu even as he darted around, stabbing and slashing at eyes, throats, and other soft spots with a kunai.
There was a tug on my chain and I turned my attention to the man who had grabbed hold of the end of it. He grinned and tried to wrap it around his arm. I held back a smirk and let him. I knew what he was about to do and I'd been waiting for someone to try. Lighting crackled around his free arm. He grabbed hold of the chain with that arm as well and tried to channel it along the chain, but the lightning fizzled out on contact.
He gaped, unable to comprehend that his masterful plan had failed and I used the opportunity to stab him through the heart with my free chain and then hurl his body across the battlefield. He crashed into one of his allies who was in the middle of casting a jutsu, disrupting it and creating an opening for a Mist nin to tear the man apart.
Kushina-sensei had told me to expect this tactic and had gleefully explained why it would never work. My chains were so hyper saturated with my chakra that they destabilized foreign chakra that came into contact with them, including most elemental ninjutsu.
Of course, it only worked for the area that was actually in contact with the jutsu. If I tried to block a great fireball with my chains, it wouldn't stop the whole jutsu, the portion of the fireball that didn't touch my chains would continue on unhindered, likely turning a single large fire ball into two smaller ones on either side.
Still, it prevented people from using my chains against me, and that was the most important thing.
I reached out with my chain and grabbed a woman who tried to attack Itachi from behind. I wrapped it around her neck and pulled it in as tight as I could. Her head popped off like a barbie doll.
Behind me I felt a cold breeze and then heard the clang of metal on what I suspected was ice. Turning slightly, I saw that while I had Itachi's back, Haku had mine. His entire left arm was encased in hard ice and he was using it to deflect the attack of a swordsman with well practised ease.
I nodded at him in gratitude and got back to business.
-x-
As the battle raged on, I got a better understanding of how many reinforcements had come to our aid, and was shocked at how few there actually were, because despite there only being about sixty or seventy of them on hand, they completely changed the tide of the battle.
Haku and the other Ice Boy were absolutely deadly. Haku left me with no doubt that he was an elite jounin, and though likely closer in age to me than Haku, Ice Boy was nearly as talented. I hadn't been able to see his pin, but if it wasn't red I would put good money on him getting one soon.
Both used their bloodline as if it came as easy as breathing. They managed their most basic jutsu without a single hand sign and frequently made use of half signs for more complex ones. There were thin, door sized sheets of ice scattered across the area, and their ability to merge with the ice and travel between the sheets in the blink of an eye reminded me of Minato-san's famed Hiraishin. While the ice jutsu was far more limited, in such close quarters the effect was certainly comparable.
Zabuza was an absolute tyrant. Seeing him fight brought the details of old his bingo book entry to the forefront of my mind. S-rank. The Demon of the Bloody Mist. One of Mist's famed Seven Swordsmen. Allies avoided him, refusing to get within more than a couple meters of him lest they get cut down by his sword. He could lift that massive thing and swing it like it was nothing more than a kunai.
He alternated between using his sword and a wealth of close range water ninjutsu I couldn't name. At one point I saw him grab someone's face, and shove water down the woman's throat, into her lungs, drowning her on land with only a litre of water. He released her long before she actually died—death from drowning was not as quick as one would think. When he let go she collapsed, flailing, desperately trying to hack up the water in her lungs but unable to do so.
He'd done it effortlessly, like it was no more work than just grabbing her face.
He wasn't the only one using water jutsu though. The entire battle field was covered in a thin layer of water, excess from the countless ninjutsu the other Mist nin used. The grass squelched under my sandals with each step.
And Itachi—I had no words. I hadn't been able to pay attention to him when we were fighting back at the base. I was too focused on Aiko and Sakura and living. But now, fighting side by side, I got a front row seat to just how absolutely dangerous this man was.
Even as hours passed and the night wore on, Itachi didn't have a single scratch on him. Some dust and dirt? Yes? Injuries? No. A combination of his fantastic speed and the predictive abilities of the sharingan, I was sure.
He ensnared them in genjutsu that left them screaming—in pain or terror I couldn't say—and unable to move. He was in no hurry to finish them off. They had no chance of breaking out of the genjutsu, there was little point when there were bigger fish to fry and he knew I'd get to taking care of them for him.
He tossed around S-rank genjutsu with more ease than I could cast D- or C-ranks. I couldn't help but be envious of his skill. His doujutsu admittedly eased his way, and it would be far more difficult for me to ever reach his level.
Once or twice I was pretty sure I saw someone meet his eyes and almost instantly drop dead. A genjutsu to trick the brain into believing the heart did not need to beat. The absolute pinnacle of genjutsu. Even with his doujutsu that was no easy feat.
I wondered how he decided who to use it on. It was draining from what he and Shisui had told me, and it was something they had only recently achieved. Did he use it on people that he needed to take out quickly? Or did he select the targets based on who he thought would be most vulnerable? Perhaps a combination of both. I would have to ask him later.
Uchiha Itachi was the sort of ninja who didn't waste time or chakra on flashy ninjutsu when it wasn't absolutely necessary. All he needed were his eyes and a kunai and he was more dangerous than Haku with his ice or Zabuza with his sword.
On this battlefield I couldn't help but compare myself to the three of them and come up lacking. I was competent well beyond what would be expected of someone my age and I knew I would only get better with time. Yet I felt so small and insignificant. Practically powerless. Why did someone like Uchiha Itachi ask me to stay and watch his back?
Fighting alongside these utter legends was probably one of the most motivating experiences of my (admittedly short) life. I cast genjutsu after genjutsu. I grabbed people with my chains, threw them, tripped them, stabbed them, ripped their head's off.
By the time Cloud began their retreat I'd popped three more soldier pills and supplements.
-x-
Notes: To be clear, intro scene takes place maybe a few months after Sekai graduated.
For the record Itachi managed to inform each group how to greet/respond at the second rendezvous point. He would have told Sekai in Tsukuyomi if he didn't decide to go with her. He also arranged the codes via his crows. So yes, it's his cringey code that Sekai is mocking.
Remember Sekai has pointy ends on her chains for stabbing purposes.
Leaf + Mist held out so well with like 70 vs 500 because they had like 3 S-rankers present. Itachi, Zabuza, Haku. (Haku is badass, he's S rank because this is my fic. He obviously had a different upbringing than canon.) On top of that Ice Boy is pretty close to S-rank as well. Meanwhile Cloud had already lost their S-rankers back in the initial attack. (You'll get more details later.) And it wasn't really 500. Some did stay back to take care of the fire.
Speaking of, there was probably some fire when Sekai set off the tags when they were first running away. But there were enough Cloud nin around right when it happened that they were able to do something about it before it had a chance to spread. The second time there wasn't really anyone around and the explosions were a lot bigger. A radius of 250m vs 30m.
I kinda experimented with the style here, to describe some events of the battle. What do you guys think? I wanted to actually show case other people's abilities and keep things from getting too repetitive.
Re: Itachi's instant kill genjutsu, this isn't some random thing out of nowhere. I mentioned the possibility of doing this with genjutsu way back in Nine (11).
You'll find out exactly what a coerced recruit is and how/why the label applies to Sekai eventually. For now I cannot elaborate on it further. If people actually figure out what happened before I reveal it in a few chapters, the first person gets a prize.
The opening quote refers to so many things. Can you guess them all?
I'm looking for someone to bounce ideas off of. Comment if you're interested. Requirements include having discord, being fine with getting spoiled, keeping the discussion about the fic confidential, and being fine with me messaging you randomly out of nowhere at bizarre hours or being completely silent for months. Preference would be given to people who have previously commented on the fic. I'm willing to accept multiple people. If I come to trust you I might even ask you to proof read for grammar/typos. (It would be fine to say no to that part.)
P.S. This update is a miracle, do not get used to it.