Against the World
"What does home even mean?"
-x-
I wasn't sure when it happened and I didn't know how. But at some point I started to really, truly think of the Village Hidden in Leaves as my home. It was bizarre. I still hated the village and everything it stood for. Maybe it was the familiarity that did it. I knew the village, and what to expect. But it still felt distinctly like home. Like somewhere safe. Somewhere I wanted to return to.
I was so stupid.
I didn't actually know what to expect.
It wasn't safe.
It never had been and never would be.
-x-
Twenty Five
"Good work in there, kid." The guard said as I exited the interrogation chamber, cracking a smile. "That was some pretty impressive genjutsu. Maybe we should try getting one of those fancy genjutsu users of ours down here next time."
Unsure how to respond I just nodded at him. I stood there silently until Haku arrived to escort us back to the conference room to debrief. Once we arrived we saw that Bitchy Blue, her toadies, and two men I'd seen around the interrogation department were already seated at the table, as was Itachi.
It was unfortunate that we didn't get a chance to make a private report to Itachi, but it was expected. I took the seat to his right, with Sakura taking the one on his left and Aiko sitting next to me. Based on the way the interrogation went it would be me and Aiko reporting and answering any questions. If they tried to ask Sakura questions she could honestly say she wasn't privy to most of the information disclosed.
I held out my hand beneath the table and Aiko grabbed it. She would squeeze it if I started to say too much or if I needed to be vague when answering a question.
"So you did it after all, huh?" One of the familiar men said. "That was quite the show. A job well done. Leaf is really starting young these days, isn't it?"
We knew better than to respond to him.
Bitchy Blue scoffed. "That's assuming they really did succeed and the prisoner wasn't faking it."
The man who previously spoke shook his head. "Nah, I was watching. She tried faking earlier, this was different. I don't know what she said since it all happened in that genjutsu, but I could tell by her expression. They broke her."
Itachi ignored the man and addressed Bitchy Blue. "If you doubt the legitimacy of the intelligence my team has gathered then there is no need for this meeting. You can have the prisoner and interrogate her to your heart's content. Leaf has no further interest in the matter."
Actually, we needed her for one more thing, but Itachi didn't know that yet, which was unfortunate. If only we'd been able to speak to him privately.
"Nice try, Uchiha. Even if it's all lies, we still want to know what she said."
"Very well, then I will defer to Aiko-san." Itachi replied with a small shrug.
Aiko, who hadn't had a chance to change and take off the makeup, sat up straighter and adjusted her glasses. "Of course, Itachi-taicho."
"Wait." Bitchy Blue held up her hand. "She wasn't the one in control of the genjutsu where the prisoner allegedly sang like a canary."
"That may be so, but I am a Yamanaka." Aiko replied, lifting her chin. "While my clan techniques were insufficient for mentally forcing the matter out of her, they were more than sufficient for monitoring her experience during a genjutsu."
Bitchy Blue's eyes narrowed. "Your jutsu didn't work earlier but they do now?"
"Different techniques have different limitations. The technique I used today wouldn't have worked if she wasn't answering the questions in the genjutsu." Aiko replied.
"Why not?" Bitchy Blue pressed.
Aiko scoffed. "You can't possibly expect an answer to that. I'm not explaining the mechanics of my secret clan techniques to you. Frankly, it's beyond audacious of you to even ask. Now may I begin my report?"
Bitchy Blue rolled her eyes and gestured with her hand for Aiko to get on with it.
"The prisoner's name is Ichi Kana. She is an Elite Jounin of Cloud, and thirty eight years old..." Aiko began.
I listened with half an ear, just enough to pay attention to what information she was sharing. I'd heard it all before, straight from the source.
We got some fairly valuable information out of the woman, but even she didn't know everything, or even all that much about the atatck. Cloud was up to something though, that much was certain.
As I had expected, Hayashi was the leak. Except it turned out that it wasn't actually Hayashi. About six months ago Cloud learned that Leaf had a base near the northern coast of Hot Water. Ichi Kana, who was stationed in a nearby Cloud base in Frost, initially didn't know exactly why this was an issue, but she had some suspicions. Mainly that it positioned Leaf to notice some of Cloud's movements that they didn't want us to be aware of. She further speculated that Cloud couldn't alter their movements and whatever it was they were up to, it was important and classified to hell and back. Her suspicions about our base being positioned to notice their movements was eventually proven correct when the plan to destroy it was formed.
Of course, when they first discovered the base they weren't certain that an attack was the appropriate course of action. Destroying the base could bring attention if we hadn't realized something was happening. They needed more information. So they infiltrated us.
About a month after they discovered the base they sent in their mole. An infiltration expert who underwent extensive plastic surgery by Cloud's best medics in order to replace the base's second in command. Ichi Kana didn't know what happened to Hayashi or how they managed to replace him seamlessly without our knowledge—that wasn't any of her business. But she did act as a contact for the man, through their shared summons.
Two months later "Hayashi," whose actual name was Ichi Tsuyoi (no direct relation), confirmed that the Leaf base was an issue and Cloud began to plan it's destruction. He used his position as second in command at the base to convince Aoki to send out as many people as he could to the battle in Frost in order to thin our numbers. He reviewed our security measures and defences and passed on everything he learned. He surreptitiously altered the reports sent back to Leaf when he had the chance.
As second in command no one questioned him.
It was a massive failure on Leaf's part. An embarrassment.
It was understandable that Itachi didn't know there was an issue. He had never met the real Hayashi and arrived after the fake. But Aoki should have noticed.
According to the prisoner, Tsuyoi initially sent written reports to her every week, but once Itachi arrived he became more worried about being caught while writing them since they worked in such close quarters and Itachi was, well. Uchiha Itachi. His reports became less frequent and tended to be verbal more often than not. He only passed on the most important information, instead of everything he could get his hands on.
That was also when he stopped altering any reports sent back to Leaf. The risk of Itachi seeing them before him and memorizing them with his sharingan was too great to risk it. There was only one sent back since Itachi arrived on the base, but it would hopefully give us a clue.
If we had caught or killed the man, it would have been good that he stopped sending written reports to the prisoner and contacted her less frequently.. Unfortunately, we had no idea what happened to him. The most likely scenario was that he made it back to Cloud and has reported everything to them, though there was a slight possibility that he'd been killed in the battle at some point.
His survival was disastrous for Leaf in general, and potentially for my team specifically. As far as we knew, he didn't know more than the broad strokes about our team, but he knew we were important in some way. At the very least, Itachi had told me no one on base except for my team and he knew about Aiko's bloodline. But Sakura's status as Tsunade's apprentice was possibly known.
Still, it was bad if Cloud took an interest in us, especially after the battle. While it's certain they noticed us there, they didn't know our names, or ages, or that we were of particular importance. They just had a description and some knowledge of our combat capabilities. Maybe our ranks if they paid attention to our pins.
Fortunately, we had a plan to determine if he was currently alive or not. We just needed to persuade Mist and Itachi to let us do it.
After Aiko finished her report, they made me go through it as well. It was a pain, and Bitchy Blue and the other Mist ninja kept interrupting me to ask questions, likely hoping I was less trained in what sort of information was acceptable to share than Aiko, but she squeezed my hand whenever a question shouldn't be directly answered, and overall they didn't get much from me that they didn't from Aiko.
Eventually they let up and Aiko and I were able to propose our plan. Itachi offered his support immediately, which was a relief. The plan carried some risk, and we were worried he might veto it. Either he thought the risk was worth it, or perhaps he thought it best not to disagree with us in front of Mist. If it was the latter he would surely tell us once we left the Mist base.
After another hour of negotiation, Mist consented.
-x-
That evening we returned to Ichi Kana's cell with a team of guards including, but not limited to, Itachi, Bou, Haku, Yuzuru, and Momochi Zabuza. Bitchy Blue accompanied us as well, though she wasn't considered a guard and wouldn't be present for the enactment of most of the plan.
The prisoner was still unconscious from when we knocked her out after we finished with her, but we didn't need to wake her up for what we were going to do. In fact, it was best that she remained as she was.
"Are you sure this will work?" Bitchy Blue said, sounding skeptical. "I thought you said Yamanaka jutsu didn't work on her."
Aiko rolled her eyes. "I can't make any guarantees until I try, but as I already explained, not all Yamanaka jutsu are the same. The jutsu I'm about to use is fundamentally different from the jutsu we use to gather information from someone's mind. It's possible it won't work on her, but it's likely it will. May I proceed?" she asked, looking to Itachi. He nodded.
Aiko stood across from the prisoner and raised her hands, forming an atypical hand seal, one that was unique to her clan. She collapsed, Bou catching her body and positioning it on his back.
The prisoner, who had been asleep, opened her eyes. "It worked." she said. "Verification code: Little Elephants Are Fearless. Can someone please get me out of this chair?"
I nodded, confirming the code. It was one I came up with. I'd come up with a couple dozen of them for this purpose. Sakura and Aiko had tried to come up some, but in the end we all agreed to use mine. (The agreement involved a game of cards where we all tried to out cheat each other, from which I emerged victorious.)
Momochi was the one to release her from the chair. Once she was released he kept her within arms reach.
We escorted her out of the cell and out of the building, keeping close guard in case the prisoner managed to throw off the jutsu and retake control. It was rare, but possible, and with her mental defences we weren't sure if she was capable of it or not. We could not afford to let her escape.
We crossed the ocean to the shore of Hot Water, Momochi carrying Aiko since she was still under the effect of the chakra inhibitor and couldn't run on the water. We would have preferred for a Leaf ninja to do it, but it was a necessary compromise we made with Mist in order to carry out the plan.
"Is she resisting?" Itachi asked once we were on solid ground.
Aiko should her head. "No, she's not even aware. We should be fine."
"Verification code?" I asked, to make sure.
"Large Eggplants Abhor Freckles." Aiko recited with an eye roll. "Really, Sekai, how did you even come up with these? It's almost embarrassing."
I pressed my lips together and shrugged.
Itachi side eyed me, but nodded at Sakura. "Go ahead and stimulate her chakra receptors."
Sakura approached Aiko and did as instructed. She kept hold of Aiko's wrist with an iron grip when she was done. "Verification code?"
"Lazy Eagles Adore Fish. We're still good. That didn't wake her up."
"Very well. We'll be hiding nearby." Itachi said, prompting the rest of us to conceal ourselves from view.
Aiko looked around the area, and once confirming she couldn't locate us, she ran through a set of hand seals. Boar. Dog. Bird. Monkey. Ram. She slammed her hand down on the ground, and a mouse appeared.
"Kana-sama!" it squeaked excitedly and turned in a little circle before settling. "I haven't heard from you weeks! I was worried."
"Isumi-kun," Aiko greeted warmly. During the interrogation we had questioned the prisoner extensively about her summons and how she exchanged information with Tsuyoi. "I'm sorry, I was incapacitated. I need to pass on a message to Tsuyoi, can you do that for me?"
The mouse drooped. "I'm sorry, Kana-sama. I believe Tsuyoi-sama has perished, our contract with him has broken. Is there anyone else you would like me to contact for you?"
Aiko shook her head, putting on a mournful expression. "No, that's fine. Please dismiss yourself."
"Are you sure, Kana-sama?"
"I'm sure."
"As you wish." The mouse bowed its head and disappeared with a puff of smoke.
As soon as it was gone we rushed back to the clearing and surrounded Aiko.
"Verification code?"
"Loud Employees Abuse Functions. Please restrain me and prepare to inject the chakra inhibitor. On the count of five I will return to my own body."
Momochi dutifully grabbed Aiko and restrained her. Sakura got in position, a needle held to her thigh.
Aiko started counting down. After she hit five the body went limp and Sakura immediately shoved the needle into the prisoner's leg, injecting the chakra inhibitor.
Shortly after, Aiko's body jerked and her eyes snapped open. "I'm back." She announced. "You can let me down now, Bou-san."
We returned to the base. The news that the spy was potentially dead was good, but it would need to be investigated further and verified. For all we knew the summon was more cunning than we believed and lied to us. Of course, even if the spy really was dead, we still needed to find out when he died and if he had a chance to pass on information before he did. That mission, however, belonged to someone else.
The prisoner was taken to be locked up again, or perhaps executed. I wasn't sure if they wanted to hold onto her for awhile yet or not. It was no longer my concern.
The rest of us were allowed to retire for the evening, excluding Itachi. He was probably required for another pointless meeting.
That night it was Sakura's turn to share a bed with me. To my dismay, the interrogation seemed to have affected her, and though she fell asleep quickly, she constantly tossed and turned. When she kicked me so hard I fell out of bed, I gave up, unsealed a sleeping bag, and settled in on the floor. I didn't join Aiko because she had the top bunk. While the risk of being literally kicked off was low, that's what I had believed about sharing with Sakura. Being kicked off the top bunk would be way worse.
I was just about asleep when the door opened, letting in a stream of light and jolting me into semi-alertness. Was Mist spying on us while we slept?!
"Sekai-kun? What are you doing on the floor?" Itachi asked me in a whisper as he closed the door behind him, the light vanishing and leaving us in darkness.
Ah, just him. It was safe.
"Sak'ra..." I mumbled and gestured vaguely at the bed. "Time is it? Late?"
"About one in the morning. Go to sleep Sekai-kun. Tomorrow we go home."
Suddenly, I was wide awake. I pushed myself into a sitting position. "Really? We're done?"
"Yes, Sekai-kun. Now rest. You'll need your energy for the trip."
I flopped back as I was filled with pure relief, not even minding how hard the ground was. We were going home.
-x-
The trip back took two days. We arrived at the south east gate just as the sun was beginning to set for the evening. The guards seemed to be expecting us, and informed us we were to report to the Hokage immediately.
We took to the roofs and headed west to the Hokage tower, where we were immediately directed to the Hokage's office by an old man—a secretary of some sort—in the lobby.
I was actually quite nervous. Despite the man practically being Tsunade-sensei's husband, I could count on one hand the number of times I'd met him, and I'd only been called to his office once, for my chuunin promotion.
This was the most powerful man in the village. Perhaps not in terms of combat prowess, though he was certainly up there as well, but he had absolute control over the entire village, and nearly as much over Fire Country as a whole.
I was aware Itachi would likely do most of the talking as the one in charge, but Team Four had played an important role in the interrogation and I was the team leader.
We filed into the office with Itachi taking the centre. I stood to his right with Aiko and Sakura in line next to me, and the other three survivors stood to his left.
The office looked the same as it had the previous time I'd been there, though this time the Hokage was not bothering with a kind facade. His face was serious and stern.
"Welcome home, Base 121." he said. "I am happy to see the seven of you alive and relatively well, but saddened to hear of the loss we have suffered. We will be holding a ceremony to mourn our losses at the Memorial Stone in one weeks time. You'll receive further details tomorrow."
Disgust washed over me, settling thickly in my stomach. Something told me this wasn't going to be a genuine memorial service. It was going to be a propaganda event. I had no doubt I would be required to attend—we all would.
"While I have been periodically receiving updates from Itachi-san over the past few weeks, I'm afraid I'm going to need both a verbal report now, and a more detailed written report by the end of the week. Please begin from the moment the attack started, Itachi-san."
Itachi squared his shoulders and began describing his own experiences in a completely emotionless voice.
I listened closely to his retelling of events, how he sent out requests for help and was repeatedly denied until Mist agreed. It was impressive how he communicated with his crows via genjutsu while in the midst of battle to arrange the codes, ambush site, and meeting points. Splitting his attention like that... It was beyond my own skills.
He described his battle with a Cloud ninja named Nii Anzu. She was a swordsman and fire release user. S-ranked in the bingo book. His crows had taken her body back to their realm so he could provide it to the village at a later time.
The Hokage looked pleased at this development and instructed Itachi to go to the bounty department tomorrow with the body to begin processing.
Itachi continued his tale, outlining his decisions and reasoning, though I got the distinct feeling he was leaving a lot out. Probably things some of us weren't authorized to hear and which would be included in his written report. It was likely said report would be for the Hokage's eyes only.
When he got to the part where he asked me to stay behind and fight instead of going ahead to the Mist base something in the Hokage's expression shifted. I couldn't say what, exactly, but he seemed... harder.
Beside me, Aiko tensed for a moment before relaxing. Was she... reading the Hokage's mind? Did she pick up what that was about? No. She wouldn't dare. Would she? Perhaps she was just good at reading his expression and realized he was displeased or something. It didn't matter, if she did and learned something relevant she would tell me. If it didn't affect me, she would keep it to herself.
My hypothesis that Itachi was omitting things was proven true when he glossed over the events at the base, completely leaving out any details about the interrogation.
"Thank you, Itachi-san. I look forward to your written report as soon as possible." The Hokage said once Itachi had finished. I had a feeling he expected Itachi's report sooner than he had previously stated. "Hara-san? Yours next?"
Satoshi shared how the attack played out for him, but there was nothing particularly illuminating. Bou went next, and then Kaori. Finally, it was my turn.
"Team Four," The Hokage said, looking me in the eye. "Given the three of you were rarely apart, I will accept a general report from Hoshino-san on all of your behalves. Please give your report from the moment the attack began, until you arrived at the Mist base. Everything else should be detailed in your written reports."
So he didn't trust me to know what not to say about our time with Mist. Interesting, but probably a good call. Even with Itachi's example, I wasn't sure what all was appropriate to say in front of the others.
I began my report from the moment I woke up in the barracks, and explained my plan to get us out.
"Do you still have the seal?" The Hokage interrupted.
"Yes, Hokage-sama. I have it with me right now." I responded.
"Please pass it over. We will review the contents. If there were any enemy ninja caught in it with a bounty you will be informed and receive what you are owed." he instructed.
I pulled it out of my weapons pouch and placed it on his desk. "Ah, I should advise that care is to be used when unsealing the contents, considering I sealed away a significant amount of dirt and rock—I'm sure you can imagine how much. The seal isn't designed to allow only a portion of the contents to come out at once—it will be everything."
The Hokage picked up the seal and examined it for a few seconds before placing it in a drawer. "I will be sure to pass that on. Please continue."
As instructed, I continued my report. He seemed particularly interested in our encounter with the storm release user, who he indicated must have been a member of Cloud's Gosui clan.
"Thank you Hoshino-san." He said once I finished. "The seven of you will be receiving commendations in your files for your performance. You have all performed most admirably. You are all a credit to your village.
"Please be advised that due to the circumstances and our uncertainty regarding Cloud's motives for the attack, each of you will be summoned to the intelligence department to review your time on the base."
Suddenly, the Hokage's stern expression softened into a smile. "Now, I'm sure you're all very tired. You're dismissed, my assistant will escort you out."
"Thank you Hokage-sama." we chorused as we bowed to him.
-x-
We parted ways outside the tower, each heading to our own homes. I was reluctant to part with Sakura and Aiko, and even Itachi, but I recognized they all needed to return home and I couldn't tag along.
I briefly considered going to the Uzumaki household, but decided against it. It was already late and I wasn't sure who would be home. Now that the Nuisance was a ninja it was a distinct possibility that no one was. Or worse, it was just the Nuisance home, and I did not want to deal with him without buffers in my current state, if at all.
So I crossed the village to my dorm, resigned to spending the night alone. I should have known better, for standing outside the door to my building was the Yellow Flash himself.
"Sekai-chan!" he shouted when he spotted me. He rushed over and wrapped me in a hug before I could process what was happening. I tensed at first, but slowly relaxed into his embrace. I didn't return the hug—I couldn't. Minato-san was holding me so tight my arms were pinned in place.
"Minato-san...?"
Hes gently pulled back, though kept his hands on my shoulders, kneeling before me, and started babbling. "I'm so sorry, Sekai-chan. When I heard what happened I wanted to come, but I didn't have any of my seals in the area, it would have taken me at least a day to get there, and I'd have been abandoning—well. I just. I couldn't. I'm sorry. I'm so glad you're okay. You don't know how terrified I was when I heard..."
I blinked, shocked that he was so upset. He hadn't reacted like this after I escaped from that Rock base. Perhaps it was because this time he felt like he could have helped, but didn't...?
"It's okay, Minato-san. I'm okay." I assured him awkwardly.
He smiled in response, though it seemed a bit weak. He released me and got to his feet. "What do you say about spending the night at our place tonight?"
I licked my lips, hesitating.
"Naruto's away on a mission down south. He'll be gone for a few more days." Minato-san offered as if he'd read my mind. "It's just me for now. Kushina is still away, too, if you hadn't guessed."
I had guessed. I had no doubt that if she were in the village she would have been the one waiting outside my dorm.
"Okay." I agreed. "Just for a few days."
Minato-san held out his hand. "How about we hiraishin over, then?"
My eyes widened. I'd never done that before, and I was incredibly curious how it worked. I reached out and grasped his hand tightly.
It was... strange. I couldn't really describe the sensation, and had almost no time to process it because in less than a second I was standing just inside the front door of the Uzumaki home.
Minato-san smirked at me, seeming to sense my unease. "It's a bit disconcerting at first, isn't it? You get used to it."
"What causes that sensation?" I asked, not really expecting a serious answer.
Minato-san gave me a considering look. "I suppose I can explain the broad strokes of how the hiraishin works to you."
"Wait, really?"
"Yes. It shouldn't be enough for you to replicate it just yet, and to be honest it's unlikely you'll want to in full." he responded bluntly, leading me further inside. "Before we start, are you hungry? There's some left overs in the fridge if you want?"
I hadn't had a proper home cooked meal in ages, even if it was left overs, so I accepted.
"Why don't you go upstairs and freshen up while I reheat it and make some fresh rice?" he suggested.
It was probably a good idea. I had been travelling all day and could use a change of clothes and quick shower.
Twenty minutes later we met at the kitchen table, where a warm meal was waiting for me. I took my usual seat, and he sat down across from me.
"What do you know about the hiraishin?" he asked me.
I took a moment to think about it and realized the answer was basically nothing. "It involves a seal and allows you to teleport to locations where you've left a seal, but I don't really understand how that works."
Minato-san nodded. "That's about what I expected. I should preface this by saying that I'm telling you this in confidence."
"Of course, I won't share it." I promised.
"The hiraishin is essentially a giant network of linked seals." he explained. "I seal myself—and sometimes other people—away, and unseal myself at almost the exact same moment at a different seal. The sensation you experienced is a combination of being sealed away, and also existing in the in a pocket dimension for a brief instant. I should note it's not safe to remain in the pocket dimension for long. It was a challenge to set the parameters to sustain life for even a few minutes."
I frowned, deeply confused. That couldn't be. "But how? You don't leave a seal behind when you disappear, and I've seen you drawing out new hiraishin seals to add to network..."
The thing about a linked seal was that you needed to create all of the components before it could be activated. Minato-san shouldn't be able to just add on to it whenever he wanted. Unless he had several different sets of linked seals? Different networks, so to speak?
I verbalized that hypothesis to him.
His eyes lit up. "That's a brilliant idea, and I did consider doing that, but it wouldn't work with the way I utilize the hiraishin. You see, I found a work around for that limitation of a linked seal. I figured out how to activate the seals without closing the link."
My jaw dropped.
He chuckled. "Well, in this specific case. I'm not actually sure how to use it more generally. Kushina has been trying to adapt it, but even she hasn't managed it. Discovering it was pretty much a fluke."
"Okay, so you somehow managed that... but how do you seal yourself away?"
Minato-san smirked and held up his hand. In the palm of his hand a seal shimmered into existence, made of his chakra. He pulled his hand away, leaving it floating in the air for a few seconds before it dissipated. Next he held up a finger and repeated the process, though this time with a far smaller version of the seal that fit on his fingertip. The smaller seal was barely visible.
Holy shit. I'd heard of being able to create seals out of pure chakra, but it needed perfect chakra manipulation skills, and I'd never heard of someone being able to maintain them in the air. Usually they would be imprinted onto something solid, like skin or the ground.
"This is why I can't use the idea to create multiple networks. I would need to leave behind a physical seal if I did that. This way I temporarily create an addition to the network which disappears as soon as I enter the seal and am no longer present to maintain it."
"Impressive. How do you leave it in the air?"
Minato-san smiled. "Kushina taught me that one, actually. She'll teach you eventually, too. Once you master chakra seals."
"But wait," I said, tapping my chin thoughtfully. "If you never close the link, you can't use any other linked seals."
His smile turned wry. "You're right. I can't. It's one of the reasons Kushina was chosen as village Seal Master over me."
"One of?" I asked.
"I've never been quite as good at seals as her. Even when I was trying to catch up to her, no matter how hard I studied, she was always at least a little better than me." He shook his head fondly. He didn't seem to mind that she was better. "Over the years since she was chosen, that gap has only grown larger.
"But anyways, that's why I said it's unlikely you'll want to bother with the hiraishin the way I use it. Kushina is perfectly capable of using it—she managed to recreate it herself when I challenged her to. But the cost of giving up linked seals isn't worth it to her, even if she didn't need the skill in her position as Seal Master."
"But why doesn't she use closed networks like I suggested?"
"Oh, she does." Minato-san chuckled. "It's not widely known, and I'll ask that you keep this knowledge to yourself as well. She only uses it outside of combat—it doesn't suit her style. But even then, the need to carry around a physical seal limits her. She carries one that is linked to a seal here at home and a few other key locations. But multiple networks is also limited. It requires carrying multiple seals—and this seal breaks if it's sealed inside another seal. She could carry a dozen seals, but she can only use any of them once. I can get around this by burning the seal into the tag on my kunai, but with a closed link, she can't."
"So I could learn it like that." I said, tapping my chin again.
"You could." he allowed. "You have my permission to recreate it even, but I won't be telling you how to do it, and neither will Kushina."
I smirked. "Sounds like a challenge."
-x-
I spent the entire week leading up to the so called memorial service in the Uzumaki house, despite my plans to only stay a few days. The Nuisance came back about half way through, but aside from meal times I was mostly able to avoid him. I had hoped to see Kakashi, but he was also out of the village.
I finished my report late on my second full day back. It detailed my experiences in battle and the interrogation, including the parts we held back from Mist. Most of it wasn't relevant to the situation at hand, but it included information like who all had signed the mouse contract, some details about important players in Cloud, some security information about their bases and village, and more. It was the longest report I'd ever written. Despite the late hour, I decided to drop it off right away since there was always someone available to receive reports at the tower.
After that I retreated to Kushina-sensei's art studio to work out my feelings from the entire cluster fuck. I did several different paintings of Pinky-taicho's severed head and a rough portrait of Takai and Amai. I burned each of them as soon as they were complete.
I was... not well. Being in a relatively safe location allowed me to finally process everything I'd done.
Pinky-taicho was the only Leaf ninja I was aware that I'd killed for sure. There were likely others who had died in my seal, or in the explosions I set off. But I couldn't be certain about that, and I most likely didn't actually know those people, either.
Pinky-taicho I did know. Not particularly well, and I didn't like him. But I knew him and he didn't deserve what happened.
I wasn't stupid. The sensor was likely familiar with everyone who'd been on base. She knew he—and likely others—would be caught in the seal when she told me to activate it. He was sacrificed so we could get out. His life was traded for ours. It was sickening to know that he was seen as expendable. If it had been someone else, someone important, then she would have told me to wait.
It turned my stomach just thinking about it.
And then the interrogation... god I hated those. The prisoner... it was easier not to think of her by name when I thought about it, and it was hard not to think of her at all. She wasn't actually a bad person. No worse than me, at least. She was just doing her job. I just did mine.
The things I made her see—that I saw with her... I knew it wasn't actually real. Her kids were fine, and if they weren't I had nothing to do with it. But the image of Minato-san flaying a little girl alive haunted my dreams. Sometimes I was there as an observer but powerless to stop it or close my eyes, like the prisoner had been. Other times I was the little girl in question.
My second night back I screamed in my sleep and he came into my room to wake me. I completely lost it, convinced he was there to torture me, to kill me. I tried to use my chains on him, completely ruining my pyjama top, among other things, before he restrained me and got me to calm down.
I ended up sitting across from him at the kitchen table at two in the morning drinking tea and explaining what happened in general terms while refusing to look at him. He understood. He didn't try to wake me up from my nightmares again, but he was always willing to talk when I woke up. I took him up on it more than once. It helped. He had a soothing presence that made it easy to talk about it, but only in the wee hours of the morning.
I visited Sakura on the fifth day, and we went out to Suzuki Kashiya where we split an entire strawberry cheese cake. We'd stopped by the Yamanaka compound to invite Aiko, but she wasn't home. I suspected she was busy in the intel division.
On the sixth day I was summoned to the bounty department, where I discovered that I would be receiving more money than I'd seen in my entire life. Apparently, when I'd activated that seal, I'd managed to seal away an S-ranked Cloud ninja who had earned himself a hefty bounty.
(Perhaps that was why the sensor told me to activate the seal. Did that make what happened to Pinky-taicho any better? I wasn't sure.)
I would receive only eighty percent of the listed price, since Leaf posted part of the bounty, with Mist posting the rest. That meant that I only received half of what Leaf offered to pay, but the full amount Mist contributed.
It would be some time before I actually received the money, at present they just needed me for some paper work so they could deposit the funds into my bank account when the bounty office released them.
The way bounties worked was actually pretty interesting. The bounty office was located in Iron country, and was completely neutral. In order to post a bounty, whoever was doing so had to pay half the price to the office up front. The other half was expected to be paid once the bounty was cashed. If a village (or independent party) refused to pay without good reason, then they were prohibited from using the bounty office until they paid a fine equal to twice that which they refused to pay and all their outstanding bounties were withdrawn without refund of the down payment.
Of course, whoever posted the bounty could set conditions, such as restrictions on who could claim it. Currently, Rock, Cloud, and Grass weren't eligible to claim any bounties Leaf or Mist set. It was also standard to set the condition that if the claimant was a member of the village which set the bounty, then they received only the fifty percent already paid to the bounty office.
Additionally, they could decide whether to add to an existing bounty, as happened with the bounty I was receiving, or they could be posted separately in competition with the other bounty. The latter was most common when there were conditions set on the bounty, like wanting the target alive or a specific part intact.
When someone refused to pay a bounty they had to give a reason, and then the bounty office would make a judgment on whether it was a valid reason or not. Rulings tended to go either way. If it was ruled in favour of the bounty claimant, whoever set the bounty was given the opportunity to continue to refuse or to pay without fine.
Sometimes the one who posted the bounty knew they would lose the ruling but refused regardless as a delaying tactic to keep the money out of someone's hands for a few weeks longer.
I left the bounty department in a daze. I wasn't set for life, but I would have a nice nest egg. I could definitely splurge on some new gear and treats. Hell, if I wanted I could afford to move out of the dorms. I wouldn't, I had no need to, but perhaps I could purchase some shelving?
Things to consider.
-x-
The memorial ceremony took place on a Sunday. The sunny weather didn't suit the sombre mood of the occasion, but I supposed the imagery of a rainy funeral was something that happened in fiction rather than real life.
Us survivors were expected to wear the formal black dress uniform, which consisted of a black undershirt, a high necked, double breasted jacket, black pants, and black dress shoes. It was stiff and uncomfortable and I couldn't wait to get back to the Uzumaki's and change into my regular clothes.
We were lined up on one side of the Memorial Stone, standing at attention, while the Hokage stood a few metres in front of it, and another man stood on the other side of the stone with some sort of tool in his hand, likely for carving names.
Several hundred people gathered in the field. Most seemed to be there for someone specific, but others were probably there just because the Hokage would be speaking. Some wore dress uniforms, but many wore plain black mourning clothes.
The ceremony officially started precisely at noon, with a speech from the Hokage. I admittedly zoned out about three minutes in, but it went on for a good half an hour. I caught bits and pieces.
Something something will of fire burns brightly.
They tried to douse our fire, but these seven show that our flame may shrink, but it cannot be extinguished.
Something something will of fire something something.
Honourable sacrifices. We will avenge our losses.
Something something will of fire something something, again.
Take a moment of silence before we honour those lost...
The speech ended and entire clearing stood in silence until the Hokage broke it by uttering the first name.
The man who stood by the memorial stone knelt down and began to engrave it. Once he finished, the Hokage read the next name.
And on it went. For two hundred and twenty six fucking names. (I wondered which one was Pinky-taicho.)
-x-
After the ceremony I changed my clothes and met up with Sakura again. Aiko had already disappeared. I would be worried, but given what I knew, I was certain she was regurgitating everything she remembered from her time working in Base 121's intelligence department. Knowing her, it was likely a lot.
For a lack of anything better to do, we went back to Suzuki Kashiya, though this time our order was more moderate. We made light conversation (or rather Sakura did, I mostly just listened to her) for about an hour before going our separate ways.
When I returned to the Uzumaki household I went straight to the studio, where I sketched out Pinky-taicho's head and promptly burned it.
I decided then and there that it would be my last one. With the memorial service over and done with, it was time to move on.
I pulled out a fresh piece of paper and began a rough sketch of Hanako. I worked on it until I was called down for dinner.
I stepped into the dining room and was immediately engulfed in a warm hug.
"Sekai-chan! Minato just told me what happened. I'm, like, so happy you're okay!" Kushina sobbed, blinking back tears.
"Sensei, it's good to see you, too."
-x-
The next day I was called down to the intel department bright and early where they insisted on trying to let a Yamanaka view my memories from my time stationed in Hot Water Country. I reluctantly allowed it, but only because I was certain they would soon give up, which was proven true.
After that failed, they resorted to doing it the standard way, which meant I was subjected to a gruelling interview where they forced me to recall my entire time there in as much detail as possible, focusing particularly on the patrol missions I ran.
It took nearly nine hours and left me mentally exhausted. I went straight back to my room at the Uzumaki household and took a nap.
I slept through dinner, but Kushina-sensei had leftovers waiting for me when I came down.
"Ah, Sekai-chan, I need to talk to you. Why don't you join me in Minato's office while you eat?" It sounded like a suggestion, but I got the feeling it was more of an order, so I agreed without fuss.
She sat behind his desk and cleared it off so there was room for me to eat on the opposite side. I grabbed the spare chair, pulled it up against the front of the desk, and began to eat.
"As you can imagine, there are some consequences of what happened. You, Sakura-chan, and Aiko-chan made the bingo book." she informed me, setting out three sheets of paper.
I picked the first one up. It wasn't actually a normal sheet of paper, but rather a page sized sticker to be placed in a bingo book.
All bingo books had a section of blank pages at the end, meant for stickers like these. New information came out too frequently to actually republish the entire book—it was too expensive. Instead they did a full update about once a year, and in the meantime they distributed sheets like this for people to manually add to their own copies.
The entry I was holding was for Aiko. There was a rough sketch of her at the top that was fairly accurate, but not quite right. Really, it could have been almost any Yamanaka her age in a pair of glasses.
Yamanaka 75-01
Name: unknown
Affiliation: Leaf
Threat Level: A
Age: 12-15
Rank: Chuunin
Descriptions: Short blonde hair, blue eyes (Yamanaka variation), wears glasses. Approximately 152 cm.
First Added: Year 75
Known Associates:
-Uzumaki 75-01
-Leaf Medical Ninja 75-02
Significant Actions:
-Hot Water Crush Survivor
Significant Abilities and Jutsu:
-assumed to be proficient with the standard Yamanaka repertoire
-spear—absorbs ninjutsu
"Wait, who is the Uzumaki she's affiliated with?" I asked after swallowing a bit of rice, confused.
Sensei smirked and tapped one of the other pages. I picked it up and recoiled. "Me? Why do they think I'm an Uzumaki?"
Sensei laughed at me. "Sekai-chan, you used a secret Uzumaki technique. Of course they're assuming you're an Uzumaki. Teaching an outsider clan techniques is almost unheard of."
Well, when she put it like that... I ignored her and examined my own entry more closely. At the top was a sketch that gave a rough likeness of myself. I skimmed over it, scowling when I saw my estimated age, and then snorting at their assumptions of my heritage.
Uzumaki 75-01
Name: unknown
Affiliation: Leaf
Threat Level: A
Age: 6-8
Rank: Chuunin
Description: Medium to long purple hair, yellow eyes. Approximately 120 cm.
First added: Year 75
Known Associates:
-Yamanaka 75-01
-Leaf Medical Ninja 75-02
-Uchiha Itachi
-Possible: Uzumaki Kushina
Significant Actions:
-Hot Water Crush Survivor
Significant Abilities and Jutsu:
-Uzumaki Chains
-Genjutsu
Notes: one of the last surviving Uzumaki, suspected to be the daughter of Uzumaki Kushina.
I pulled up Sakura's next, which likewise featured a rough sketch of her.
Leaf Medical Ninja 75-02
Name: unknown
Affiliation: Leaf
Threat Level: A
Age: 12-14
Rank: Chuunin
Description: Medium-short pink hair, green eyes. Approximately 150 cm.
First added: Year 75
Known Associates:
-Yamanaka 75-01
-Uzumaki 75-01
-Possible: Senju Tsunade
Significant Actions:
-Hot Water Crush Survivor
Significant Abilities and Jutsu:
-Advanced medical ninjutsu
-Super human strength
Notes: Suspected to be the second apprentice of Senju Tsunade.
"They don't seem to know much about us, and they listed us all as A-rank." I commented.
"The lack of information is, like, a good thing." Sensei assured me. "While it's possible they're misleading us with how much they know about the three of you, this indicates the mole died before he could report back about you." She paused, and continued in a more serious tone. "The threat level is what we need to talk about, though.
"Frankly, none of you are A-rank yet. They saw the three of you fighting together, and you fighting with Itachi. Together the three of you are phenomenal, and I'm sure you performed well with Itachi, but on your own it's a different story." She told me, propping her elbow on the table and lacing her fingers together. "You're all solidly B-rank, which is impressive for your ages. But people will expect more from the three of you than you are capable.
"For now the three of you are on a training hiatus and restricted to the village. Once you show enough improvement you'll be permitted to go on low-risk missions. Once you reach A-rank or close to it you'll be allowed on riskier missions."
"I understand."
"I'll be working on a training plan for you. Minato, Itachi, Shisui, and Kakashi have all agreed to help when they have time." she informed me. "So you will be kept busy. There will still be team training, supervised by me, Tsunade-sama, or Kairi-chan when possible—"
"Kairi-sensei?" I interrupted, my voice cracking slightly. "You mean she's awake?"
Kushina-sensei's mouth slammed shut, then formed a small o. "No one told you yet?" her voice was gentle. Soothing. Remorseful. "She woke up about a week after you left. She's still getting back into shape, but Tsunade-sama is confident she'll make a full recovery."
A weight I hadn't even realized I'd been carrying seemed to lift off my shoulders. Things would be okay.
-x-
Kushina-sensei and I set several goals for my individual training.
First, I needed to improve my genjutsu. I needed to increase my repertoire and proficiency with multiple targets. I had improved a lot under trial by fire, but I still had a long way to go. As things stood, I could only use D- and C-rank genjutsu on multiple targets. I would also be practising layering genjutsu. It was impressive that I had managed against the storm release user, but if I had been better I could have done it a lot sooner. Minutes, even seconds, could be the difference between life and death in a battle.
Second was seal work. Kushina-sensei was going to start teaching me about barrier seals and how best to use them in combat. She was also going to be giving me some more general theory lessons, so I could work on some ideas of my own.
Finally, we were going to work on my taijutsu. I was good not just for my age or size but also my rank. Still, I needed to be better since I didn't have any close range ninjutsu to enhance my attacks. Included in this was improving my strength and stamina.
When I met up with Sakura and Aiko, they shared their training goals with me as well.
Sakura would be learning to summon and use the chakra scalpel in combat. Once she mastered those she would begin working on adapting some other medical ninjutsu for combat purposes. Her super strength made her powerful in close combat, but it had limits, and sometimes a more delicate touch was required. She would also work on learning some fire ninjutsu to give her some range.
Aiko planned to train with her spear and learn some new earth ninjutsu. More importantly, she planned to delve further into her bloodline limit. She was certain there was more to it than just reading minds, but she needed to experiment to figure out what else it could do.
For group training, we would work on incorporating our new skills into our fighting style, plus more work on stealth and dodging. According to Aiko, Kairi-sensei was worried we'd been slacking off in her absence.
The coming months were going to be busy.
-x-
Notes: This chapter was a pain. While writing it I discovered I had made some plot holes and had to figure out how to fill them... Basically spy needed to die before he can report in. I actually came up with the way to discover his status after I decided he and Kana share a summon.
Could a Yamanaka in someone else's body make use of their summons? In canon idk. But here? Yeah, why not? It's basically the contractor plus a little extra in the body. Why wouldn't it work?
I imagine that leaving the body requires active chakra use, so they couldn't inject a chakra inhibitor until Aiko left Kana's body.
Joke with the verification codes: The English translation of what they're saying, which is what we see, obviously gives the acronym "LEAF," but the joke doesn't translate to Japanese, so to everyone but Sekai it's complete nonsense with no basis. Just a sequence of random words.
Itachi's crows are summons, they can fly super fast, m'kay? Plenty faster than humans can run.
Nii Anzu would be a fairly close relative of Nii Yugito. They're in the same subclan. (Nii is written with the kanji for two and place, so it's a subclan of the Ni clan. Details about Cloud clans in the databook.) I imagine she was actually incredibly badass and she and Itachi had a super epic battle, but I won't describe it because that's too much work.
Gosui is written with the kanji for five and water. Not sure if that's an actual real world reading of that combination of kanji, but eh. This is a society based on Japan, so I take creative liberties and butcher the Japanese language.
Since there was doubt after that one intro scene, Minato legit cares about Sekai, okay? He's not faking that. Have some proof.
Re: Hiraishin. I'm going against canon a lot here. Just go with it.
Chakra seals = creating seals out of pure chakra, not seals that contain chakra.
I've been toying with the idea that seals cannot be sealed inside other seals, but can't remember if I stated that previously. I've ultimately decided against it being a general rule, but it does apply in some cases. If anyone has seen me mention it before, tell me where so I can fix it.
Kushina mostly uses the hiraishin when she's sent out alone to use her jinchuuriki powers. She also keeps it under wraps that she can do it for various reasons.
Sekai may or may not get the limited version of hiraishin. We'll see. She will not get the full hiraishin as Minato uses it.
This chapter is long because I was very determined for certain events to happen, and I didn't get to a point where I felt it was best to continue in another chapter. Do not expect this to be a regular thing.
P.S. still a miracle.