Sealkeeper: He Who Binds
Chapter 125-A "A Long Mission"
Patron Release 2020.10.05
As the High-Priest drained whatever was in his cup and turned to face her Akishi could immediately see the weariness in his eyes. A large part of her hoped that he had simply had a busy day and that the exhaustion he showed hadn't just been created by the prospect of having to speak to one of Au's elder children.
"I thought I had given you a task." His voice was just as heavy and tired as his eyes but carried with it a measure of disappointment that immediately blanketed her with an anxious feeling she couldn't quite explain. "Are you here to tell me you can't manage it or are you planning to lie about it being done?"
It hurt- and far more than she thought it should have, at that- for him to suggest either of those as her intentions. Would he ever understand that she was there to help him and that as Au's favored none of his children would ever knowingly cross him? He had given the Children of Au a task, he should have known they would work at it for the rest of eternity so that Au's will could be done through his chosen medium.
Or, at least, for the rest of that chosen's life. The likelihood of them continuing at it afterwards was slim unless Au was using it as a punishment for their failure.
"Neither, Naruto-sama." Her voice couldn't quite mask the way she felt about his doubt in her and while most of her being screamed out about allowing anyone to know that- She was the manipulator, that was the sort of tool she uncovered and exploited on her victims not something she should be showing to anyone; even if they were the high priest and above any machinations the Father would allow- there was still a part of her that realized it might help in her dealings with the High-Priest.
It was still manipulative, in a way, but at the same time he had already shown that he was unlikely to pity the children of the sun so it was probably just as likely to end up backfiring on her too. Whichever it was he either hid it well, wasn't inclined to care, or was simply so tired he hadn't even noticed because those hollow purple eyes started with a blank intensity into her own. She had no idea how nothingness could be so overwhelming.
"The purpose of my work is to prove to you the capabilities of Au's children and one of the many benefits of taking upon yourself the blessed mantle of his High-Priest." She returned focus to the eyes that had yet to stray from hers and was momentarily lost in them. She had to break her gaze from them before she ended up falling in and vanishing forever. "To that end, I must discuss with you what methods you would allow me to use as I begin to spread the word of Au and gather support to do your will."
He paused- only briefly- and a frown tugged at his lips for a second or two before slipping away entirely. "Handle it as you will," He instructed with a dismissive wave of his hand, as if the matter wasn't worth his attention and she was being foolish to bring it to his attention. "You are his child, you would know his faith better than I."
"N-naruto-sama?" She couldn't do that, could she? He had given her permission, sure, but what would Father think? He was to have his new High-Priest return his faith to the world, she didn't want to earn his ire by interfering with that.
"Was there something about that you didn't understand? Do as you see best, I know nothing of the Faith of Au. Whatever you teach and whatever you spread to the masses will be the truth as far as the mortal world is concerned."
That was a hell of a lot of weight on her shoulders for not being the High-priest but she did suppose that Ak'Gyun had been priestesses in their own right before. This was similar enough, wasn't it?
As much as she tried to convince herself that it was she knew for a fact that she would be massively overstepping her bounds- even as both elder and Ak'Gyun.
"I- I cannot, Naruto-sama. It is not my place and anything I do that goes against how you will lead us will no doubt cause fractures within the faith. We cannot afford such a divided return to the mortal world if Au's will is to spread throughout it."
One slender red brow rose delicately but managed to convey with it an overwhelming sense of condescension. "You think I will deviate from what you establish?" It was probably the most genuine humor she had ever heard in his voice and it probably would have been pleasantly warm if she didn't suddenly find herself feeling like an idiot for reasons she couldn't understand for the life of her. She was an elder, damnit, why did she feel like some sort of hatchling compared to...to...Au. Yes, that's what this felt like, she realized, like those first few years after her birth staring up at the massive form of her father and feeling so terribly small in comparison to his glory. But now there was no glory, no warm light, just a figure so much larger than he that it should be impossible.
The fact that she was physically larger than him made it even harder for her to wrap her head around.
"Child-" The form held none of the affection Au usually expressed with that word but neither was it scolding. It just...was. It was like he was declaring it a fact that she was only a child. She didn't know how she felt about that. "You will be the one teaching me the faith of Au. So long as you hold fast to his truth, there should be no issues."
She thought it was more likely that Au himself would be teaching the young man once there was a connection established between them but she was too busy focusing on other meanings of his words to focus on that.
"You don't mean-?" His brow actually managed to rise just a bit more at her unvoiced question.
"That you will be the one at my side should I take up the role of High-Priest?" He scoffed lightly as if the thought of anything else was absurd. "You are proving to me your competence, child. Do you honestly think I wouldn't choose the most competent serpent for that position? If you succeed, you will be my assistant in spreading Au's will."
That was a decree, she could hear the inevitable, inexcusable truth in his words and it fell with all the weight of Au's authority already. What was more surprising to Akishi was that his intentions so perfectly matched what Au himself had already expressed to her.
Had the Father told her that she was to be his personal summon because he knew the High-Priest would feel this way or were the two of them simply so similar in their thoughts that it was a forgone conclusion they would both choose her? She wasn't sure what thought was more comforting.
While they could have listened in were they so inclined, neither Hinata nor Hanabi paid any attention to the two speaking in the doorway.
"So how have you been?" Hinata had always suspected- though it was probably more of a hope than anything- that the Wolves- specifically Naruto himself- had been keeping her sister safe but she couldn't describe the sheer relief that had flooded her body at actually being able to see so for herself.
Not only had the idea been more pleasant than some of the alternatives but she could still distinctly remember when Hanabi and Naruto had taken a walk together in the Hyuuga gardens that night. As Hanabi was the one to invite him out Hinata was certain it had been mainly Hanabi driving whatever plan they had concocted, though the Hyuuga head couldn't help but be more than a little surprised that she had been able to act so far ahead. Either Hanabi was extremely lucky or she had an amazing intuition to be turning to Naruto long before plans had been made to properly seize control of the Hyuuga clan from the main family.
"It was boring for a while," Hanabi admitted. "But I've been safe, so I don't think I can really complain." Hanabi didn't necessarily want to be smiling but she wasn't able to muster up a proper Hyuuga-facade and was absolutely sure she was only a few degrees short of offering a beaming smile to her older sister. She didn't know if it was just the fact that she was seeing a more familiar face- or perhaps what could be considered a new face after so long with the same people- or if she had genuinely missed Hinata so much without realizing it. Either way, this was more than worth missing out on a lesson from Shizune-Sensei.
"I'm glad to hear it," Hinata's smile was much more well contained but while small the smile on her face was absolutely genuine and what her lips didn't show her eyes more than made up for. "I was really worried but I knew you had been speaking to Naruto and just had to hope that the two of you had arranged something" - Or that Naruto had just gone out of his way to secure the safety of Hiashi's youngest daughter but that really didn't need to be added.
""Of course," Hanabi's smile faltered slightly. "He wasn't about to discard a Hyuuga with legitimate claim to headship should something happen to you." It was meant as a joke, mostly, but as she actually said it out loud she could hear it falling flat and serious. Hinata's own smile quickly vacated the room, a frown tugging at her lips.
"Please don't say something like that." Her pale eyes flickered to the back of Naruto who was speaking to someone she couldn't quite see from her position. Not only was that a wildly inappropriate thing to insinuate while their host was in the same room- even if he wasn't currently aware of the words between the sisters- Hinata also just didn't like to consider that aspect of his actions. She had no doubts that having a spare Hyuuga heir hadn't been his intention when he had agreed to whatever plan Hanabi had proposed but she also couldn't lie to herself and ignore the fact that it had no doubt been a consideration.
Naruto, she knew, would remain completely aware of the resources and leverage that he held at his fingertips. Something like a second Hyuuga heir would not slip by his notice, not at all.
"Sorry," Hanabi's sheepish smile told Hinata the apology was only half-sincere. "Perhaps I've been spending too much time with Mai and the Wolves, they have me becoming cynical."
"It's fine, it's fine." Hinata attempted to wave away both apology and the subject of their discussion as a whole with only limited success. "What have you been doing?"
"Shizune-Sensei was working to teach me some Iryo-Jutsu but I've recently become Mai's assistant and have been helping with re-organizing the Wolves. I'm already here, might as well be useful." Hinata frowned again at that. "Sorry. How are things going with the clan?"
That was, perhaps, a much safer topic for the two of them to be discussing and so Hinata didn't hesitate to take the opportunity to steer away from Hanabi and her stay with the Wolves.
"Things have been pretty calm lately. There's a lot more paperwork than I would have expected but I think I might rearrange things to be opposite of what father had."
"Oh?" One of Hanabi's brows rose. "What do you mean?"
"Father always did all the paperwork and then would submit it to the elders who either accepted or rejected it, I think I'm going to start having a council that does the paperwork and I'll accept or reject it. Should make things so much easier."
Hanabi's head bobbed in an agreeing nod. That seemed sound to her, hell, that's pretty much what she was working on here with the Wolves. There was no need to have everything brought to the direct attention of the upper echelons of House leadership, just the important things.
Now it was just a matter of finding a good way to determine what was important and who it was supposed to go to. The leader just reviewing all completed work, though, Hanabi just might have to steal that and modify it to fit the three leaders of the Wolves. Sure, it might take a bit longer for them to go through things but at least they wouldn't be the one's actually doing the work unless something submitted by the Wolves wasn't going to work and they just decided to correct it themselves rather than rejecting it.
"That's not a bad idea, it doesn't make sense for you to do everything or to have someone above the clan head." Hanabi agreed. "Are- are they still calling you Hinata no Mikoto?" Probably not a good topic for conversation Hanabi realized as she said it but it was too late now. Besides, she knew what the answer to that would be. The Hyuuga clan- especially the branch family- were extremely fanatical by design- she should know, her father had been teaching her how the main family made use of that t control the clan- which meant they would absolutely still be thinking of her sister as a goddess unless something major had happened to dramatically shake their faith in her.
Her sister's initial response was a slightly wry smile. "Do you really think they'll ever stop?" She asked. "I'm not sure I would be able to convince them to think of me as anything else." It had its benefits, to be sure, and would secure her place as the clan head for the rest of her life- and she wondered how they would explain that occurrence. Maybe as missing her throne in the heavens?- but she had already grown tired of the reverence they expressed around her.
Either she was going to have to hope she got used to it soon- and she didn't know that she wanted to be used to something like that-or it was going to get on her nerves for the next seventy to eighty years. Look at her, complaining about being treated as a deity. She really should just accept it gratefully and use it to do some good in the world, even if that was only for the clan itself.
"That's what you get for doing the impossible."
"I didn't do anything," Hinata's eyes momentarily flicked over to Naruto's back. "But I understand what you're saying."
Hanabi's brow rose again as she turned to give Naruto a curious look. Sure, he was quite the high-ranking Wolf and quite accomplished for his age but how did that relate to Hinata's remarkable ability to completely nullify the function of the Hyuuga's Juinjutsu? Her question must have been obvious as Hinata took the initiative to explain.
"Naruto was the one who removed the first seal and when I received the second one he did something to stop it from working. I'm still not really sure what."
That all added up but Hanabi couldn't keep her thoughts from reminding her that these events occurred back when her sister and Naruto were still in the academy. If he was that capable with seals then…..
A shudder wracked Hanabi's body. He had to have been some sort of sealmaster back then, was there anything he wouldn't be able to use them for now? That prompted other big questions, questions like why she had never seen him do anything related to sealing while she was here nor heard of anything from the Wolves she'd spent so much time around. These were the Wolves, for fuck's sake, if they had a resource at their disposal you could bet their ass they would be making use of it and there were few resources as rare and powerful as a Fuinjutsu Master.
Or….An uncomfortable thought slipped across her awareness… maybe they were making use of his abilities after all. Mai and Tsukuyomi were the two individuals doing most of the work Hanabi had seen and while Tsukuyomi led the Wolves Mai had important roles maintaining relationships with the other groups under their influence such as the Hyuuga and Inuzuka.
So if Naruto wasn't doing most of the stuff she could see- with the exception of lately in Mai's absence as far as Hanabi could tell- but according to the Wolves he was always busy and overworked then maybe he really was using his obvious- now, anyway- Fuinjutsu skill. He did spend a lot of time in his office the Wolves said and it didn't seem so strange that he would be working on sealing projects there and then sending them to wherever they would actually be put in place.
No wonder he was so godsdamned high up the chain, it explained a hell of a lot. That revelation, however, also made her question what sealing projects the Wolves currently had on the board because she hadn't heard of a single one.
Honestly she didn't know if she'd ever have enough clearance for that to change considering she was already the personal assistant of Tsukuyomi's direct subordinate. Wasn't exactly much further she possibly could climb and if Fuinjutsu solutions were already being utilized then there had to be Wolves- who were technically under her- who were applying them in the field which meant, logically, there were Wolves who were already privy to the existence and details of Fuinjutsu projects.
"I...see…" Something about her voice must have tipped her sister off that there was quite a bit more to her thoughts than she was willing to share as Hinata immediately steered the conversation away again.
"Well, at least we'll be able to see each other more now."
"No, we're leaving Konoha."
"And?" Hinata scoffed- much to the surprise of Hanabi. When had she started doing that? It did seem the sort of thing she might have picked up around Naruto and Hanabi briefly wondered if she'd start doing that soon too- "Any visiting is going to be more than it was previously and it's not like Naruto's going to be stopping in the village to visit me regularly. I'll probably try to visit at least once a month- every other week once I get things with the clan sorted out enough to not really need me."
Or, if she had everything running really well she might just stay wherever the Wolves were and just have the elders send everything to her by courier for her approval. Probably not the most responsible- or convenient- option but goddess or no she could use a vacation or two. Not from her work, of course, just from the members of her clan. She would have never imagined they could have worn her out so much or so easily
"Well, I guess we will then." Hanabi didn't exactly know what else to respond with. The prospect of spending time with her sister was actually quite strange- and she realized how wrong that probably was- but she could honestly say it sounded pretty good.
"Don't sound so disappointed, you should have known you wouldn't be able to get rid of your big sister just by running away with the Wolves.
"Yeah," Hanabi's lips twitched into a small smile. "I guess you're right."
"We- I- know that your task has been set for us and us alone," Akishi did have her doubts about bringing this up at all but she knew it would just cause more problems if Naruto discovered their actions later and disproved of them. It would be much easier for them to start more slowly and take their time than to try regaining his trust for a third time. "But there are things we would request of others to better complete the task we have been given. I wanted to know if you would all-"
"Yes, yes." Naruto waved a hand dismissively. "Whatever you need to do. Who you get to help you and what deals you make in your efforts to take over Yu no Kuni is none of my concern." Purple eyes stabbed deeply into her red with a grim seriousness she couldn't ignore. "But if I learn you used my name or my House in order to do so there will be consequences, snake."
"No, never!" She assured him with a shake of her head. The hair that bounced behind her and over her shoulders was a sensation she was still far from used to. "Our deals and persuasions will be made as the Children of Au. We wouldn't dare rely on you for the task you have given us as a test."
"Good." He peeked over his shoulder to the sisters in Mai's office and figured it had probably been long enough that he could take his leave. "Off with you then, your chances of taking control of anything are even more slim if you intend to just stand around and you really can't afford any more handicaps."
That was...unnecessarily biting, Akishi thought, but as insulting as the words were there was still truth to them. They really wouldn't be able to do much until she went back to the Snake Sage to resume negotiation.
"Of course, Naruto-sama." Regardless of her opinions she still lowered her head in subservience and began backing away from the future- if she managed to bring about Au's will- High-Priest. "I had just wanted to ensure our actions would not interfere with your own plans. We'll return to our work immediately."
"We will see."
His lack of faith was less than encouraging.
"I don't know," Ganju shook his head. "It's been neglected for a while. It's acceptable now but what about down the road? These issues need to be fixed before more is added or trying to repair them later is going to be a nightmare."
"But repairing them is going to take time," Guren countered. "Orochimaru was very clear that this base needed to be ready for Denka-sama immediately."
At her side a bored Isaribi stared off towards the sea, one hand idly fiddling with the bandages that covered a large portion of her body.
"Those may have been Orochimaru's orders but they aren't Tsukuyomi's. Tsukuyomi-sama didn't have any sort of time restraint when he gave us this mission because he wants things to be done properly." Katsuri waved the letter in her hand to draw attention to it. "Even his most recent instructions are only demanding an immediate update so he can decide what he wants to do."
Behind Ganju and Katsuri two of Orochimaru's lab assistants and "Ganju's boys" saw to the exhausted Wolf who had collapsed as soon as he'd identified the recipients of his lord's message. Katsuri was fairly confident that her lord had not expected him to push himself that hard even knowing there was a time restraint considering his letter quite clearly stated the man had been given orders to only allow them fourteen hours to draft a report for them to carry back. He wouldn't be doing much traveling at all for at least another day and certainly not at that pace he had taken to get here.
There was also the fact that Naruto would have never given any of his children orders that put them directly in harm considering he always availed to minimize the danger to them for any given assignment.
"Do you intend to sit around twiddling your thumbs until he gives you further instructions?" Guren shot back. She had been assigned to a mission dealing directly with the will of Tsukuyomi and she was well acquainted with Orochimaru's obsession over the young man. While not technically part of her mission she did know that her continued well-being depended on ensuring the Crimson Prince's satisfaction in any way she could. If that meant taking control of this entire operation as if she were one of his Wolves then so be it.
"Of course not!" The brash Ganju was naturally the first to rise to her taunt in objection, playing right into the next part of her argument.
"Then we would get much more done while waiting to hear from him again if we started working on the parts that need immediate attention and then moved onto new construction. Then if he decides he'll be coming here immediately we have most of it ready for him and if he isn't we can turn our attention back to improving what's already here." She could tell by Ganju's growing thoughtful frown- which seemed a strange sort of expression for him to have- that he had managed to follow her logic and was seeing what she was trying to get across.
Katsuri, on the other hand, had simply crossed her arms- carefully to not crush the letter from Tsukuyomi as she did so- and cocked one hip to the side with a blatantly unimpressed expression on her unmasked face.
"That would still mean that he'd be arriving at a structure we claim is ready for him when it would clearly not be. He'll also be arriving with all the records of the House of Wolves currently within Konoha which we can't risk to an underwater base that is not ready to house them. If it's not going to be good enough for his paperwork I'm not about to risk him within it."
Ganju's face lit up with understanding and Guren knew immediately that she had lost any sway over him for the time being. "Oh, yeah! That's a good point." He nodded sagely as if it was some piece of ancient wisdom he had already been aware of.
"We don't have what we need to replace some of these parts and it will take time to get them made and shipped here. We can get the new construction to a level that it's suitable for Tsukuyomi and then worry about converting the old stuff." The report going back to Orochimaru's godson had to be positive and show progress, damnit, otherwise she was going to be hearing back from Orochimaru himself.
"Ah!" Ganju's eyes widened as that logic took hold and both Guren and Katsuri knew he had switched sides yet again. Neither knew how long he would remain that way but unfortunately he was the one who would be ultimately making the decision. Katsuri represented Naruto's interest in the work- or was supposed to. Guren thought she was falling short in that regard, personally- they were doing here, Guren represented Orochimaru's interest in getting Naruto what he desired, and Ganju was the one in charge of the people who would be fulfilling the work itself.
All either of them needed was to get the man to start work to make sure he was committed to the approach they were trying to convince him to take.
At her side, Isarabi was only going from bored to irritated at the delay. She was here to be doing things, she could have just stood around just as well back at her home and saved herself the trip. "Why don't you just order the parts now and start working on the new stuff while you wait?" She proposed with a long-suffering sigh. "When it gets here you replace pieces but at least we'll be doing something in the meantime."
Ganju's expression brightened once again.
Sharing a look, Guren and Katsuri both turned to Isarabi in sync. "You're in charge of keeping him on track now."
Isarabi had a feeling that speaking up may have been a mistake but the two women weren't going to risk him changing his mind now that he would be doing work that satisfied each of their primary concerns for the project.
One and two, one and two, one and two. The rhythmic beating of metal on metal rang through the blanketed white valleys as lookouts kept a careful watch on the mountaintops for any snow that might be loosened by their work.
It was soothing in a way he hadn't imagined possible, a constant monotonous repetition he could easily lose himself in for hours. The other members of the crew thought he had to be out of his mind to enjoy the work but Juugo was the only one present privy to the fact that they were right.
He was the newest on the crew and the youngest by well over a decade but the foreman hadn't much cared for anything beyond the fact that the was strong enough to do the work, had the stamina to go all day, and was ready to work immediately despite the grueling job and the admittedly low pay of the position.
The joke was on him for that one, Juugo hadn't been expecting to be paid for this work in the first place. It was new and kind of strange to have money and the freedom to use it but he thought he could probably get used to this simple sort of life.
With a final strike of his hammer the last rail spike was fully driven into the hard stone hidden beneath the snow and he set him hammer between the ties to wipe the sweat from his brow. As cold as it was up here in Yuki no Kuni the work was demanding and more than enough to keep most of them warm without the need for heavy clothing.
Even as he thought that some of the others were untying the tops of heavy coveralls from around their waists and slipping into them. With work done for the day and nearly an hour trip back to the small town they were based out of the residual heat from the work was sure to have long since abandoned them before the town even came into view.
Juugo didn't bother doing that, the top half of the uniform they'd provided- the most generous thing from their employer so far, actually- remaining tightly tied around his middle. Unlike the others, however, Juugo also didn't bother to wear anything beneath it leaving his uncovered torso exposed to the frigid climate of this country. That, admittedly, is probably the largest reason his new coworkers thought he was crazy but the nature chakra flowing through his body sustained him well enough even here.
He still didn't know exactly why he had been the one chosen for this or how Overseer Jirobu- and that was new, he wondered how long ago that promotion had been given- had managed to swing his release from the prison-like research center but that was the least of his worries.
No, the real tricky part was going to be somehow managing to climb up high enough through the ranks that he was able to obtain what he'd been sent here for.
It was going to be a damn long mission, he was sure, but maybe that wasn't such a bad thing.
Sealkeeper: He Who Binds
Chapter 125-B "Bad Batch"
Patron Release; 2020.10.15
"How long was this supposed to be for, anyway?" She had been greatly enjoying her time here- especially with Mai around- but despite this a concerned frown tugged at Tsume's lips. Her clan wasn't really structured for her to be taking extended leaves of absence and she couldn't imagine the Wolves were functioning very smoothly without Mai to keep them all organized.
"I don't know, he never said." Mai's lips moved to match the older woman's. "I've tried asking how long he'd reserved a stay here for but all I get are smiles and reassured that I shouldn't worry about deadlines because I have plenty of time. I can't imagine it could be for too much longer though."
"Hmm" Tsume gave a hum of agreement, her lips- and the rest of her body- relaxing as she allowed herself to fall more properly to the bed she had been sitting on with a flop. Silence reigned in the room then, warm and comfortable.
Even so, Mai couldn't help but feel that there was something desperately wrong at the moment. She didn't know if it was the lack of any sort of information coming her way or the fact that she hadn't been doing any actual work for so long but whatever it was made her feel uneasy. Even here on vacation she was sat at the desk in their room, fingers tapping against a desk devoid of the papers she was so used to focusing on and with no Wolves needing direction standing at patient attention for her orders.
It was just...wrong.
A knock at the door broke her from those thoughts as Tsume turned just enough to stare at it helplessly from the impossible comfort of her position. "...Mai…?" She begged piteously "Please?"
With an amused smile and an endearing roll of her eyes Mai vacated her position at the desk and made her way to the door, stopping just long enough to bend down and plant a quick peck on Tsume's cheek as a second series of knocks sounded. "I've got it," She assured the older woman softly for a thankful grin in return. Her next words were louder, intended to continue through the door and over any new knocking. "I'm coming, I'm coming."
She was reasonably certain this was probably the hotel informing them of an imminent checkout and Mai had to admit that a part of her was looking forward to returning to her familiar routines back in Konoha.
Reaching the door she pulled it open slightly and found herself blinking at the plainclothed man before her. Definitely not the immaculately dressed resort staff it took her a second to figure out why the face was so familiar. "Dejiri?"
The man smiled broadly but his hazel eyes smiled even more. "Can I come in, Mai-san?"
"O-of course," She hurriedly stepped out of the way, holding the door open so he could enter. As soon as he was clear the door was shut and he dropped to a knee. "Mai-sama."
"Rise, Dejiri. What do you have for me?" She had other Wolves here with her, though they were keeping their distance so that she would be able t awfully enjoy her vacation, but if Dejiri had been sent here it had to have been from either Nami or from Konoha and she was fairly certain he had been stationed in Konoha when she left which meant-
"Word from Tsukuyomi-sama, Mai-sama." He reached into his shirt and withdrew a letter that he quickly surrendered as she snatched for it. The second that paper was in her fingers he may as well not have existed anymore and he was perfectly aware of that.
Mai moved immediately back to her desk, not once looking up from the pristine white letter or the wax that kept it carefully sealed. Usually Naruto preferred to just tie it up with some twine or send it in a common envelope so she had to wonder what was so important that he had made an envelope with heavy paper to hold his letter and bothered to seal it when he always hated waiting for the wax to be ready.
Breaking the unmarked wax she let the heavy paper drop carelessly to the desk, keeping a hold of the real prize within. Just as clean, the actual letter was only slightly lighter and she immediately recognized the parchment it had been written on by touch alone.
A sudden hesitation grew within her chest, a feeling of dread settling like a mantle over her shoulders. There had been a grand total of fifteen pieces of this paper commissioned and she had been informed very clearly by Naruto that it was only to be used for matters of the utmost importance. For the life of her she couldn't come up with anything important happening that would have warranted its use- especially in informing her of something.
She paused for a few seconds, aware that both Tsume and Dejiri were looking at her curiously, and with a deep breath she opened the letter itself. Her black eyes were immediately drawn to the three official seals at the bottom of the page that informed her that this matter involved the House of Wolves, Nami no Kuni, and Tsukuyomi himself.
Her personal anxiety dropped a lot from that but she was still far from comforted. Had something big happened while she was here relaxing?
Centering herself again black eyes scanned the page for anything that might stand out as a negative but aside from the mention of a "Hanahime" she wasn't familiar with she hadn't noticed anything that really stood out. More slowly this time she actually read the letter, easily able to recognize Naruto's handwriting across the expensive parchment. It was a sort of messy scrawl but she found it charming in a way. It did not, however, belong on such expensive stationary.
She read it through once, twice, and then a third time before she was convinced she was seeing what she thought she was.
"Come on," Tsume prompted from her place on the bed, breaking her out of her stupor. "It looks fancy, what's it say?"
"We-we're leaving Konoha." Mai was sure her voice had done a splendid job in conveying the sense of confusion that was filling her at the moment.
"What?" Tsume rose one of her brows in partnership with her question. "We've already left Konoha."
"No, not us, the Wolves."
Tsume's brown eyes blinked twice as she processed Mai's words. "What?!" Scrambling up from the bed she hurried over to the desk and started to read over Mai's shoulder. Mai was too busy trying to understand what could have possibly happened in her absence for them to reach this point to even stop and consider whether any part of the letter might have been inappropriate for the older woman to view.
"What the hell happened?" Tsume asked, one of her hands coming around to grasp the parchment and bring it closer to her face as if the words would suddenly change to something that made more sense if it was simply looked at more closely. Mai surrendered her grasp on it without objection, only half registering that it had happened in the first place.
"Tsukuyomi-sama had already been planning for the Wolves to move on from Konoha," Dejiri reminded them. Well, mostly Mai. Tsume was learning this for the first time. "He's just given it a deadline now."
"A deadline we're going to miss, apparently." Came Tsume's comment, instantly catching Mai's attention.
"Wait, what?"
"It mentions here that he's aware we were to return on the third but that they'll be out of Konoha at the end of the month." Tsume set the parchment on the desk and pointed to the part in question. "Does he want you to go to Nami?" Tsume's words directed the question to Mai but her gaze questioned Dejiri.
"Tsukuyomi-sama has...other plans in the works." Dejiri admitted. "I would expect another letter from him before the end of your stay as I suspect he's still trying to determine whether things will be ready before then."
Mai frowned at that. Had she missed something? Her eyes narrowed as she tried to recall if Naruto had brought up anything about moving the Wolves. Dejiri noticed this and his eyes widened with realization. "Oh, you were still in Konoha, weren't you?" Despite asking he didn't give any time for her to confirm. He already knew the answer anyway. "With Mizu no Kuni no longer going to be feasible for an outpost he called a meeting while in Nami to determine where they could create one."
"Where?" More importantly why wasn't she informed? The truth of the matter was probably that Naruto had simply forgotten both that she hadn't been at that particular meeting and to tell her afterwards but some part of her gnawed at her confidence with a horrible suspicion that he may have kept from telling her on purpose.
She had no idea why he would do something like that but she still couldn't shake the feeling. It couldn't possibly have been related to keeping the deaths of those Wolves or how they were doing in Mizu no Kuni from him, could it? After he'd returned he hadn't seemed to hold that against her at all but had that just been a ruse?
The worst part of this questioning was, of course, the monumental guilt that filled her chest at even allowing herself to ask them at all. What could possibly give her the right to doubt Tsukuyomi? Amaterasu or no, she knew where her loyalties lay.
"I'm sorry, I'm not privy to that sort of information." Dejiri gave a helpless shrug of his shoulders. "I overheard Anko talking about the meeting with Commander Katsuri in Nami and soon after we were called from Nami to Konoha Hanabi-sama had been given the instructions to prepare to leave. She didn't know where to but she told us that he wasn't planning on it being Nami."
So she was just going to have to wait, wondering where she'd be headed after this trip was over- great. Well...She paused in consideration. She could always leave now and head back towards Konoha so that she was there as they left and with them when they arrived at whatever new base he was trying to secure for them.
Otherwise she would just have to head to Nami and see if either Sai knew where she should be heading or try to get a message to Naruto asking her where she should be.
Unless that was his plan and he didn't actually intend to tell her where he was operating from now.
No, that was ridiculous, he needed her in order to manage everything under his domain. There was no way he could do it all alone and have any chance in hell of everything continuing to turn smoothly.
But...He wasn't alone, was he? Not only did he have some of those that had been present at that meeting she had never heard of but he also had Hanabi now. She was no Mai but she was a quick learner and quite intelligent in her own right. It wouldn't be too difficult for her to become the sort of person Naruto needed to support him.
She violently shook the thoughts from her head, they had no place there. Either she would hear from him here or there would be instructions waiting for her when she got to Nami no Kuni. There was nothing to be gained worrying about it and it would just undo all the trouble he had gone through getting her and Tsume out here on this vacation to relax.
Like she thought earlier, he wasn't alone. That decreased the chances of him doing something monumentally stupid while she was here.
"That's fine. Why does he have a deadline now?" Either something had come up or he was preparing for something that was about to, surely Dejiri would know at least the reason for the move, right?
"Ah, he, uh." Dejiri looked away nervously for a few seconds, trying to find a good way to put it. Mai wasn't so patient about this as a dread started to pool in her stomach.
"...Dejiri….." She trailed off nervously.
"...He may have gotten into a bit of an argument during his first meeting with the Godaime, Mai-sama."
"He…" She couldn't even finish her sentence, too busy trying- and failing- to wrap her head around what she had just heard.
So much for not doing anything stupid.
It took her, perhaps, much too long to realize the sound she was hearing was a knocking coming from the Senju compound gates. Blinking in surprise Tsunade set her cup on the kitchen counter and tightened her top as she made her way through the Senju clan house and towards the main entrance that only she, Shizune, and Kushina had passed through since her return to Konoha.
Even Jiraiya had, by some miracle, refrained from barging into this sanctuary. She wondered if he was worried that doing so might drive her out of Konoha again or if he had just been planning to ambush her once she left.
Or he had developed some sense of self-preservation, but that was even more unlikely.
The knocker struck its plate another three times as she exited the front door of her home and moved down the two stairs from her engawa* and she momentarily considered both raising her voice to let them know she had heard them or just turning around and ignoring them. The first idea was dismissed because she really wasn't in the mood for talking- hadn't been in that mood in the last year, actually- but that fact only made the second option all the more enticing.
Curiosity, still, drove her forward. Kushina had been her sole visitor since she and Shizune had moved back to Konoha, the only person to seek her out in over three years now, so who was trying to get her attention now? She was pretty confident that even in her current state there would have been plenty looking to curry favor with the last Senju or one of the legendary Sannin and that the only reason she had been left in peace this long was because most of Konoha probably still had no idea she had ever returned to Konoha.
This person, however, obviously did.
As she reached the large circular gate of the Senju compound she made one last check to ensure her top had been properly secured and that she would be even somewhat presentable to the world beyond these gates. She generally hadn't ever cared about that- free drinks were free drinks and a loose top brought those in abundance- but if word was to get out about her return she'd rather the person spreading it not be making comments about her girls hanging out or that she looked like a homeless drunk that had just crawled out from under a bridge.
Unlocking the gate she cracked it open just enough for her to peer over towards the iron knocker that had been mounted to the wall beside the gate. She had to look down only slightly to be able to meet his eyes at this distance but two brilliant gems of purple pierced right through her. They were set into an angular face of soft, pale skin- a noble's visage if ever she'd seen one- and despite having adjusted her top she felt almost naked beneath that gaze.
Long red hair spilled down, fair and perfectly straight, to frame that face and for a second- just the briefest of seconds- she wondered if something had happened to Kushina. But this couldn't have been Kushina. She was slightly taller- though, admittedly, not by much- and, well, Kushina was very obviously a woman. While the features of this face did have just a tinge of female grace a quick look towards the body told her that her guest was most certainly male.
They also confirmed her initial suspicions of noble background, those purple robes he wore being a much higher quality than you would expect to see walking through Konoha unless the Hyuuga had left their compound to partake in a village festival or to meet a visiting Daimyo. Even then, she had a feeling that the quality of their own clothing would still fall short of what she was seeing. Definitely a noble.
The person released the knocker they had been holding, setting it gently against the striking plate, and she couldn't help but notice the slender fingers that curled back up into a loose fist as the arm fell softly to his side.
"Tsunade-Hime." To go against the rest of his image his voice was deeper than she would have expected but remained smooth and controlled. "I do hope I am not interrupting anything."
Even as she answered with "No, not at all." she could see the pieces floating about in her head. All the clues were there, right there, but she had to wait as they ever so slowly drifted together to form a single word 'Naruto'.
Brown eyes widened almost unnoticeably as the connection solidified in her mind. The entire reason she had come back to Konoha in the first place stood before her, having come to her of his own volition, but even so she struggled to match the young man before her to the pictures of her godson she had received from Kushina throughout his childhood. She knew, knew this had to be him, but she couldn't bring herself to accept the fact that what stood before her was supposed to be the Genin son of Kushina and Minato.
Sure, she could see the parts he had inherited from each and it all added up but there was just something about him that made him more. She wasn't even sure what 'more' he was, just that she wasn't looking at that same smiling child from the photos at all. Hell, she could almost swear Minato from after the war was looking at her or, even….Orochimaru.
A shiver trembled down her spine at that realization. Yes, he did remind her of her former teammate- of her first crush. The look in his eyes reminded her of that Orochimaru, the one first placed on her team with Jiraiya under Sarutobi-sensei, but something about the soft smile that rested on those delicate lips reminded her of the Orochimaru who had turned his back on the village- and even humanity itself- in order to pursue his own goals.
Tsunade could readily admit that she had no idea how such a combination made her feel, part of her was uncomfortable and guarded but another part of her felt the warmth of familiarity blossoming in her bosom. Regardless of those feelings, however, it was plain to see he had grown up to become quite the handsome young man. Kushina was probably beating off civilian woman and kunoichi alike with a sti-.
Oh. A pang of guilt struck through her heart as she remembered the current relationship between the two- a relationship she was largely responsible for. Maybe that was what finally brought him here to meet her, either to yell at her as Kushina had done or to seek answers for why he had been left on his own for so long because she had avoided her responsibilities of Godmother after promising Kushina that she'd look after him.
Honestly she'd prefer to just be yelled at because she didn't have any good answers for that. Knowing her luck, however, she was certain it was probably going to end up being both. Idly she wondered if he had inherited his father's cold focus or Kushina's fiery temper. She wasn't looking forward to either being turned against her in the coming minutes.
"Excellent, I don't suppose I might steal away a few moments of your time then? I'd like to speak with you." His voice washed over her like a gentle stream over riverrock. It was slightly cold but not to unpleasantness, a refreshing sort of cold like the early spring morning.
"Of course," She tried her best to give a genuine smile but was sure her uncertainty shone through like a lighthouse in the fog. "I always have time for my godson." She regretted those words as soon as they had left her lips to stab directly into her stomach, filling them with leaden guilt. She hadn't had the time for him when he actually needed her, had she? If Naruto held any similar thoughts he didn't show them in the slightest, his face politely pleasant but completely unreadable. "C-come in," She opened the gate slightly more and stood off to the side to grant him entry. "I'd just started a pot of tea, it should be done soon."
He stepped into the compound without hesitation, brushing between her and the open gate with the barest of touches and continuing on towards the main house without breaking his casual, comfortable stride. It was as if he had been coming to the compound every day for years and that his visit now was nothing new to him. Tsunade quickly shut the gate- wincing slightly as it slammed in protest at her haste- and then hurried after him.
Behind him as she was, she wasn't privy to the small, amused smile that tugged at his lips. Maybe this would be easier than he had thought.
The string of cursing was the first indication to Juugo that something had gone wrong. Yaiji, his supervisor, was not normally one for such impolite language and considering the only thing that ever seemed to genuinely stress the man out involved delays to the brutally tight schedule the crew was under he had a pretty good idea that something was about to drastically interrupt their normal workday.
Brown eyes looked up from the fields of crisp white snow yet untouched by man or animal up to the large mountain between them and the next town the railroad was expected to connect to. The team there was supposed to be done with their station in a few days but, more importantly, they had recently connected the rather large mines in that valley to the in-progress station. By the end of the week a train should be able to take those materials back towards the capital where they would be processed and distributed across Yuki no Kuni. A large part of those would be going back into this railway system and another sizable portion was to go to the research centers where they were trying to make something way above Juugo's paygrade.
Well, technically anything dealing with matters of Yuki no Kusi was above his station considering he was technically an illegal immigrant but the railway hadn't really cared to check papers for their most recent workers considering the deadlines they were under from the current Daimyo. From the way they spoke of him, this Daimyo probably took the Orochimaru approach to management which included harsh punishments for those that failed and slightly less harsh for those who succeeded. It wasn't the best way to garner loyalty, perhaps, but gods be damned if it wasn't efficient.
Besides, Orochimaru ensured loyalties in other ways that suited him better. Juugo was fairly certain this man didn't, which sounded like a rather grievous mistake on his part. There was bound to be a rebellion or civil war or something before too long, but that really wasn't any of his business or concern.
He looked back down from the mountain to Yaiji who was bent over one of the supply carts on their smaller train. It had been one of the first working prototypes and rather than scrap it or save it for some future Yuki no Kuni museum- might have been able to use it from a tourist angle, especially if they built like a ski resort or something. Gods knew they had enough snow all year round- they had decided to use it to aid in the creation of the tracks the more advanced trains would be using in the future. Admittedly not the worst repurposing, he could agree.
Straightening up from his slouch in the seats provided for transporting the workers he exited the car and moved down to see what, exactly, would be causing this delay. He was greeted by the sight of bundles of the small black blasting charges and a nervous blasting engineer. He had always thought his team was small until he learned of them. Apparently there were only three people in Yuki no Kuni trained and permitted to use the explosives and they only showed up on the worksite when the track was just outside the blast radius.
Juugo knew that causing the explosion was the easy part, it was maintaining the integrity of the rock that they would be laying the tracks through that was the actual concern. Still, the group was well trained so he was immediately curious as to what had gone wrong on their end.
As he drew even closer Yaiji's harried voice told him exactly what was wrong.
"You have to be fucking kidding me, what the fuck do you mean its' a 'bad batch'?" He angrily tossed the bundle from his hands back into the cart before grabbing the blasting engineer by the front of his jacket. "We have to have that open by no later than noon tomorrow if we want any chance in hell of getting this done before Doto decides he'd be better off with all new workers and uses our asses to fuel his trains."
"Hey, I don't know what to tell you Yaiji. They felt weird when I picked them up and after opening one it has nowhere near the right amount of powder. Not only that, the powder inside was completely soaked and useless. I don't know how many of the others will be the same but I took another one from the middle of the pile to check and it was exactly the same."
The charges were fairly simple devices in theory. A treated tube of paper- water resistant but not quite water proof- contained a mix of two minerals Juugo didn't know the names of. One reacted violently when lit but was hard to set alight and the other was easy to light but burnt at high temperatures very quickly. He wasn't sure how those under Doto's employ figured out how to use the two in tandem but evidence would suggest they had come up with something workable.
Unfortunately the addition of moisture to the equation threw everything out of balance and drastically reduced effectiveness. You could still light them and things would still burn but generally the result was more intense flash of light and heat than any sort of substantial explosion that would clear the solid rock they needed to get through.
They would probably be better off with explosive notes when it came to reliability but those notes were both expensive and we're sort of a one-size fits all sort of arrangement whereas these charges could be adjusted by the engineer- and whatever witchcraft they had up their sleeves- to create explosions of the right size and force to accomplish a set task.
It was also monumentally cheaper, which appealed to Doto and his greed.
Not that Juugo had overheard anyone ever talking about that particular subject. Nope, not at all.
"So you're telling me that because some asshat didn't keep the snow off the damn things we have an entirely useless batch?" The engineer was pushed back as Yaiji's fist connected solidly with the side of the traincar. "It's going to take at least a day to get another batch of that size to us here, you realize that?"
The engineer looked even more nervous at that. "We, uh, we don't have enough for another batch of that size."
Yaiji blinked to process those words and immediately had the engineer by the jacket again. "Run that by me again, would you? You don't have enough in storage for my boys-" There was an indignant "Hey!" at his words, telling everyone there that Kari was close enough to have heard that. Like Juugo, she had no doubt moved closer to hear what was going on but she had decided to do so on the other side of the train- "To finish the work given to us by Doto-sama?"
"T-that's right."
"Are you ready to go tell Doto-sama that? I'm sure as hell not going to be."
"Our supplies from the other mines have all but dried up, that's why he wanted this track done so quickly. They found more of the necessary minerals behind one of the old iron veins and Doto wants to be able to get it back to be processed before our shortage starts delaying the other teams too."
Yaiji's free hand came up to massage his temples as the weight of their responsibility- and imminent failure- settled on his shoulders. "We're dead, we're all fucking dead."
Juugo looked from the two to the mountain and then back. "How much more is there, then?" He asked, adding himself to the conversation. Yaiji was too distressed at the moment to try to stop him.
"Maybe a quarter of what we need." The engineer shrugged. "It's not much at all and it will never punch us clean through."
"Get it."
The engineer blinked dumbly as Yaiji straightened up to look at Juugo curiously.
"Wha-"
"Get. It." Juugo repeated. "I'll start by hand, we'll use what we have once you get back with it."
The eyes of Yaiji, the engineer, and a still hidden Kari shot to the mountain.
"You're not proposing…" Yaiji trailed off. Juugo could only shrug.
"Got a better idea?" He grabbed one of the picks from the car next to the explosives and tossed it over his shoulder as he grabbed a large hammer in his other. "I don't know about you, boss, but I like living."
"...He's got a point…" Kari's voice traveled over the train and the sound of her digging under the protective tarp for a tool of her own immediately followed. Yaiji turned back to the engineer and gave him one last good shove.
"You heard the man, get going. We'll try to salvage this monumental mess of yours." Yaiji didn't actually think they'd make it but he'd be damned if they didn't at least try.
Besides, it would keep his thoughts off his imminent execution and that alone was worth it.
*Engawa- The wooden, porch-like structure that wraps around the edges of rooms or houses.
So I figured out what I had wanted to mention last time- my work schedule was changing or, rather, already has by now. I'm going to try to stick with Mondays for my update goals, but as I'm not off it's more likely there will be updates between Wednesday and Friday. Basically at some random point in an update week one will pop up.
Usefully, I know.
Sorry.
I'm also aware that I'm now two commentaries behind and will start on those soon. Figured a chapter was more important so now that it's out I'll take the time for the less popular commentaries.
Thanks, as always, goes to my generous Patrons.
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