'Thoughts/Signing/Written Words'
"Speaking"
"Seals"
A/N: I know it's been awhile and I apologize. I realize that I got the timeline skewed when I had wanted to keep their ages. I wrote thinking that it'll be ok, but it kept bothering me, so I went back to edit some things in the previous chapters. Who knew there could be so much discrepancies between ages and timeline. Hopefully it's smooth sailing now.
Disclaimer: I own nothing from Masashi Kishimoto. Enjoy!
Chapter 6
When the Daimyo had announced his team, Kakashi was wary. While it was common for the Daimyo to choose who they had wanted to guard them, it was too much of a coincidence. What were the chances of her stating the names, albeit code names, of the same people who had trespassed into her home a couple of nights ago? It was as if she had purposely sought them out, minus Genma.
'Maybe I'm thinking too deeply into this,' he thought as he entered his bedroom, bypassing a tall narrow empty shelf.
On the right corner of his room was his chair, his desk, and a corkboard hanging on the wall above it. A single post-it note was on the corkboard. The words 'Water Ukki-san' were written on it. Next to his desk was another empty shelf he had turned outward to face the wall near the door. To the left of his room was his neatly made bed, completed with the shuriken patterned blanket Kushina had given him when he had joined Anbu. Above the head of the bed was the only window in the room. On the windowsill was his collection of Icha Icha, his alarm clock, and his beloved plant.
As his eyes traveled across the room, they lingered on the only framed photo in the center of his windowsill. In the photo, Minato was standing behind two boys, rubbing each of their heads. A seven-year-old Kakashi was shown wearing his trademark mask, while a black-haired boy had a dango stick poking out from his mouth. Both Kakashi and the boy had worn their forehead protectors on their forehead that day. On the face of the boy were a pair of orange goggles.
Stepping towards the photo, Kakashi smiled sadly behind his mask. 'Obito,' he thought as he remembered the promise he had made.
Kakashi's hands shook a bit as he reached over to pick up the photo. In the center was a dark brown-haired girl with two rectangular purple markings on each side of her cheeks. She was smiling while holding two fingers out on each hand.
'Rin,' Kakashi lamented.
As memories of what happened that day started to come back, he quickly placed the photo back down and turned to walk towards his dresser by the door. Kakashi sighed and rubbed his shaky hand through his hair before taking off his flak jacket. Throwing it on his bed behind him, Kakashi unsealed the bottom drawer of his dresser to reveal his black Anbu uniform. Quickly changing his clothes, he slipped on his mask and took off to find his teammates.
Kakashi had just landed on the roof of Amaguriama when he paused. Below him was his purple haired teammate, Yugao, who was about to enter the sweets shop with some of her friends.
Sensing her captain, Yugao looked up at the rooftop. Kakashi nodded in greeting before signing, 'Meet me at the Hokage's office in five.'
Yugao nodded her head in response.
As Kakashi poofed away, Yugao turned towards her friends who were entering the shop. "Sorry ladies, duty calls."
Her friends groaned. "Next time then Yugao-san."
Yugao sent them a smile, "Definitely." She waved bye and jumped on the roof tops towards the Anbu dormitory.
Before they had left for their mission, Kakashi remembered Shisui asking Yugao for recommendations for beginner weapons for kenjutsu to help his younger cousin. Kakashi went towards the Ninja Weapons Shop wondering if Shisui was there. Unable to find Shisui, Kakashi went towards the closest training ground, Training Ground 8. Hearing the sound of metal clashing against one another, Kakashi went closer. Perching himself on a tree branch, he watched his spiky haired teammate spar with his cousin. He noted how well the younger Uchiha wielded his katana, despite this being his first time using the sword.
'With practice, he'd be a deadly opponent with the blade,' Kakashi thought.
As the two kept sparring, Kakashi flared his chakra slightly. Itachi paused while Shisui quickly jumped backwards and body flickered to where Kakashi was. Seeing his captain in Anbu uniform, Shisui signed, 'Captain?'
Kakashi signed back. 'Meet me at the Hokage's office in five.' Shisui nodded in confirmation while Kakashi poofed away to find their last teammate.
Shisui jumped back down to where Itachi was. Itachi cocked his head and asked, "Another mission, Shisui?"
Shisui sent him a small smile, "Yeap." He immediately locked Itachi into a headlock and started to knuckle rub Itachi's head. "Woe is me for I am unable to spend as much time as I'd like with my favorite cousin."
Itachi twitched. "Shisui, let go."
When he did not, Itachi whacked him across the head with the handle of his katana. "Ouch," quickly releasing him, Shisui sniffled while rubbing his head, "Why do you have to be so mean to me?"
Itachi sent him a stare. Shisui chuckled. Placing a hand on Itachi's shoulder, "Remember to keep practicing while I'm away Tachi-chan."
Itachi nodded, "Aah. Be safe."
With a squeeze on his shoulder, Shisui took off towards his empty house.
'Where would Tenzo be?' Kakashi thought as he perched on top of a Hashirama tree at Senju Park. Kakashi could feel Tenzo's chakra near, but he could not pinpoint where. It was as if Tenzo's chakra was scattered throughout the whole park.
A familiar voice then whispered, "Senpai."
Kakashi quickly turned his head to look over his right shoulder. His eyes widened in amazement before quickly composing himself. While the rest of Tenzo's body was gone, his bark covered face was protruding out from the trunk. Black, almond shaped eyes belonging to his cute little kohai stared right back at him. "Tenzo?"
Tenzo only whispered, "Hai."
Behind his mask, Kakashi quirked an eyebrow. "Jutsu gone wrong?"
Tenzo let out a confused, "I am unsure."
Kakashi frowned and asked, "What were you trying to do?"
Tenzo started, "Nothing unusual. I was practicing more Mokuton techniques. Before I knew it, the tree I was on suddenly started to wrap itself around me. I've never had that happen before."
Kakashi then narrowed his eyes, "Are you in danger? Do I need to go get Minato-sensei?"
As Tenzo shook his head, the tree's canopy shook as well, making some leaves fall around Kakashi. "Just give me a minute. The tree is starting to let me go."
As he said this, Tenzo's upper body began to come out from the tree as the bark receded back into the trunk. Seeing Tenzo falling forward, Kakashi quickly went to support Tenzo's upper half.
Tenzo muttered out, "Thanks, senpai."
"No problem at all, neko-chan." All joking aside, Kakashi asked, "How long were you in the tree?"
With both hands now free, Tenzo brought one to rub his head, "Not long. Five minutes tops?"
Kakashi hmmed. "Are you hurt?"
Tenzo shook his head. This time the tree canopy did not shake.
Kakashi advised, "Best not to use any chakra or your Mokuton until you're completely free."
Tenzo nodded his head in agreement. "Hai senpai."
The bark receded a bit more, revealing Tenzo's right leg. Tenzo sighed in relief as he moved his leg to support his upper body. Kakashi stepped back but stayed close enough to provide support if necessary.
Just now realizing that his senpai was in his Anbu uniform, Tenzo blinked and looked up at Kakashi, "Do we have a mission, senpai?"
Kakashi nodded. "In village."
Tenzo tensed and looked at Kakashi. Knowing what he was going to ask next, Kakashi quickly shook his head no. Tenzo relaxed a bit.
The tree finally released Tenzo. Ensuring that his teammate was unharmed, Kakashi told Tenzo, "Meet me at the Hokage's office in five."
Tenzo nodded his head and poofed away. Kakashi stayed behind to look at the unassuming tree that had managed to swallow up one of his team members. He placed a chakra laced palm on the tree trunk and sensed nothing out of the ordinary.
'It's a normal tree. Should I be worried?' Kakashi wondered as he made a note to ask Tenzo to see if he has been feeling strange as of late.
Putting that thought away for later, Kakashi jumped on the rooftops towards the Hokage's office. He arrived at the lobby just as Yugao had arrived. Once his whole team arrived, Kakashi brought his hand up to the office door and knocked, announcing their arrival.
Genma opened the door and kept it opened to allow the Village Elders to exit. As Kakashi and his team stood to the side, he noticed the look Danzo had sent Sora.
'That can't be good,' Kakashi thought.
As his team entered the office, Kakashi made sure to block Sora from his teammates' view.
Seeing Team Ro entering, Minato began the introduction. "This is Team Ro, Daimyo-sama. In lead is Anbu Captain, Hound." Kakashi nodded in greeting as he stepped to the side, revealing her to his teammates. Kakashi internally giggled at the sight of his kohais trying hard not to twitch in shock.
Minato smiled in amusement and continued, "This is Fox, Crow, and Neko." As Minato announced their code names, they nodded their heads. "Everyone, this is Sora Fujiwara, the new Daimyo of Hi no Kuni, and the client for your mission."
Kakashi watched as she gave them a disarming smile and bowed. "Nice to meet you all! Lord Todiyori speaks highly of Team Ro. Thank you for your service."
'This is drastically different from how she was before when the Village Elders had entered,' Minato thought.
Kakashi watched his team pause at how sincere she was. Sincerity from civilians were hard to come by. Most civilians feared shinobi, while a select few respected the shinobi for what they do for the village. They all nodded in acceptance, unsure on how to respond.
Minato turned to Sora, "Daimyo-sama, can you wait outside with Tanuki and Robin while I brief Team Ro?"
Sora nodded, "Of course." Sora went to step out into the lobby.
Once the doors were closed, Minato informed them. "Due to miscommunication, there wasn't a mission scroll prepared. Instead, I will give you a verbal debrief and hand you a mission scroll by the end of tonight. I know that you guys had just came back from a mission, but unfortunately, this is one we cannot refuse."
Everyone nodded in understanding.
He continued, "Team Ro's mission is to guard the Daimyo. She had expressed that while Team Ro can hide amongst the shadows, she expects one of you to also be out in public with her. How you go about this, I will let Hound decide. Be prepared to stay and sleep under the same roof or room as her."
Minato paused for a bit before adding, "If the Daimyo needs to use the restroom, have Fox stay with her. I am unsure how the Daimyo will react if she found out males had entered the restroom with her."
Kakashi and his team nodded.
Minato continued, "For the first nine days, the Daimyo will be given tours inside the buildings of her choice. I do not know what buildings she will choose until the morning of. All of Konoha's buildings will be notified by the end of tonight to choose ten people just in case. Out of those ten, the Daimyo will choose one to be her tour guide for that building. You are all to attend the tours with her."
'Why a tour of Konoha's buildings?' Kakashi wondered.
"For sleeping arrangements, tonight will be spent at my home with Kushina and Naruto. The next six days will be spent at the Uchiha Compound. I will send a messenger as soon as you guys are dismissed." Minato informed them.
Kakashi asked, "What about the rest of the days during her time here?"
Minato frowned. "She has not stated where she will be sleeping." Looking at Hound, "If you'd like to tell your team your plan, now will be the best time. Your mission starts as soon as you leave my office."
Addressing his team, Kakashi stated, "One or two of us will be alongside the Daimyo at all times, while the rest of us will be near. We will rotate every five hours. Crow and Neko can take the first rotation, while Fox and I will go last. Based on how today goes, we'll go on from there."
Team Ro nodded their heads.
Hearing no more questions, Minato stated out, "Everyone but Hound is dismissed."
The rest of Team Ro nodded their head in confirmation and turned to leave the office while Tenzo closed the door behind them.
Minato looked at Kakashi, "According to our sources, she has no shinobi training."
Sensing a but, Kakashi looked at his sensei.
Minato continued, "Given what I've seen today, that intel seems to be outdated. While we do not have much information about her, she is still our Daimyo. However, if you feel the need to interrogate her, be subtle. Should evidence suggest that she is a sleeper agent or an enemy nin posing as the Daimyo to obtain information about Konoha, bring her into custody. You are dismissed."
Hound nodded in understanding and turned towards the doors. Just as he was about to turn the knob to open the door, Minato whispered, "For a split second I thought I saw Tomoe-san."
At this, Kakashi froze, as an image of an older ruby haired woman appeared, laughing, and sipping tea at the table with his father. In the distance he could hear a sound, but it had gone silent.
Kakashi shook his head to clear his thoughts. "Tomoe-san never said anything about having a child, Minato-sensei."
Minato smiled sadly, "Aah. Excuse your old sensei's musings."
Forcing himself to stop thinking of the past, Kakashi waved bye as he turned the doorknob. When Kakashi stepped out, he paused to see that his team were looking over Sora's shoulders. She was sitting in front of Genma and Raidou at the coffee table. There was a deck of cards in the center of the three. In each of their hands were a set of seven cards. He watched as she grabbed four cards from her hand and placed them faceup to reveal the same cards. Each one had an image of a kunai in the center of the card. She exclaimed, "And that is how you play Go Fish!"
Standing behind Genma and Raidou, Kakashi coughed to announce himself. His team straightened while Genma and Raidou concentrated on what Sora had placed on the table.
Sora looked up to give Kakashi a sheepish smile. "I had wanted to see if the new card game that I had created would seem interesting to others."
Kakashi nodded his head in response. Sora turned to Genma and Robin, "Thank you for indulging me, Tanuki-san, Robin-san."
Raidou said, "Anytime, Daimyo-sama."
Genma gathered the cards and put them back inside a small cardboard box with a painted wisteria tree on it. He then gave it to Sora, who shook her head. "It's yours to keep. Just let me know if there are any improvements that I need to make in return."
Genma nodded his head in confirmation and tucked the cards in his pack.
As Sora got up, Kakashi and his team expected her to walk towards the stairs. Instead, she had went back to the double doors.
Kakashi asked, "Daimyo-sama?"
Sora turned to look at his team. "During my stay here, I will also be taking care of some things for my business. I was not able to tell the Yondaime before the Village Elders had arrived."
Kakashi nodded his head while Genma knocked on the door.
'Hopefully, she doesn't mention to the Yondaime about theft in her home,' Genma thought.
Minato heard a knock. Without looking up, he called out, "Come in."
Finishing his sentence, Minato was surprised to see Sora and Team Ro back inside his office. He asked, "Is something the matter, Daimyo-sama."
Sora shook her head no, "If it is not too much trouble, during my stay in Konoha, I will also be attending to my duties for my business."
Minato nodded his head in understanding, "Of course. Did you need anything from me?"
Sora smiled and pulled a deep green scroll from her right sleeve, labeled 'Konoha'. Sora asked him, "Do you know about the contract between businesses at the capitol and Konoha, Hokage-sama?"
Minato nodded. "Once a year, every business in the capitol has to give a certain percentage of what they make or their merchandise to Konoha as payment for any security that Konoha provides during the festivals."
Sora nodded. "This is that percentage from Tree Leaves." Sora handed the scroll to Minato.
Minato's eyes widened at hearing the name of her business. He glanced at the the bonsai tree besides his desk. The bonsai tree was sitting in a pot displaying a painted wisteria tree. It was given to him as a gift from someone he was indebted to.
'She's the Sora Fujiwara. I should've known.' Minato thought.
While the Fujiwara surname was extremely common in Hi no Kuni, the name of her business was not. The shop had become a constant topic amongst the civilians, and even more so for some of the shinobi forces. Some shinobi would even request to leave Konoha to go to the capitol just to see the shop. There were even rumors of marriage proposals being sent out by clans and civilians alike.
'Despite the shops popularity, little is still known of her,' Minato thought as he reached out a hand to receive the scroll.
As soon as Minato touched it, the scroll started glowing as a golden seam revealed itself. Minato looked at Sora in questioning. "The scroll has the same safety precautions as the others," she informed.
Minato nodded his head and unraveled the scroll. His eyes widened in shock. There were four glowing golden words written on the scroll. Besides each category, were percentages. It read as follows:
"Shinobi – 25%"
"Medics – 25%"
"Civilians – 25%"
"Orphanages – 25%"
As far as Minato could tell, each letter and number used to spell the categories were actually seals. While there was intel about Sora's use of seals, he had not known it was this complex, and specialized. There has only ever been one person whose fuinjutsu style was similar to the ones on this scroll.
A memory of an older ruby haired woman appeared.
She was sitting at his dinner table writing in a scroll.
"What are you doing, Tomoe-san?" Minato asked.
"Writing. I just finished now." Tomoe-san stated.
Before Tomoe could completely seal the scroll, Minato caught a glimpse of glowing letters. Minato asked, "Are those seals, Tomoe-san?"
Tomoe paused and studied Minato. "How much has imouto told you about the Uzumaki clan, Minato?" she asked.
Minato crossed his arm and brought one finger to tap onto his chin to think. He tried to recall everything Kushina had told him. "The Uzumaki Clan came from the Hidden Village of Whirlpools before it was destroyed. The clan specialized in fuinjutsu. Kushina once told me that there was only one person in her whole clan who can create seals without the need for diagrams."
Tomoe smiled, "Is that so?"
Minato's nodded his head. "Kushina even said that that person can also make seals appear from thin air."
Eyes glinting in fascination, Tomoe leaned in more to listen to Minato. "Do tell me more."
"Kushina said that the person didn't have the bright red hair like everyone in the clan had. She said that this person had more of a ruby..colored..hair…" As Minato said this, realization dawned on him. His eyes widened, "That person was you?"
Tomoe laughed as she got up with her scroll. "Perhaps."
Minato was brought back to the present by Sora's voice, "Hokage-sama?"
Kakashi, his team, and Mouse were looking at Minato worriedly. "Are you ok, Hokage-sama?" Sora asked.
Minato quickly nodded and cleared his throat. "I was just admiring your seal work, Daimyo-sama. It reminded me of someone."
Kakashi frowned, 'It couldn't be.'
Sora blushed and whispered, "Thank you."
Minato studied Sora a bit. The more he studied her, the more he was convinced on who Sora Fujiwara was. 'I need to talk to Kushina,' he thought.
Noticing his prolonged stare, Sora blinked and patted her cheeks. "Do I have something on my face, Hokage-sama?"
Minato quickly shook his head no. "Not at all. Sorry for being rude, Daimyo-sama."
Sora looked at Minato worriedly, "Perhaps you should take an early day today, Hokage-sama."
Minato quickly gathered himself and gave her a genuine smile, "I'll be alright. What was it you were trying to tell me before I was being rude?"
Sora laughed, "No offenses taken, Hokage-sama." She paused to look at him with concern, "If you're sure you're well enough to proceed."
Minato nodded his head.
Not entirely sure he is ok, but proceed on anyways, Sora began, "I had asked if you needed me to tell you how the seals operated."
'I have a hunch, but let's see if they're the same.' Minato shook his head yes, "If you could, Daimyo-sama."
Sora gave him directions, "When you tap on the categories, it'll expand and list out the contents under each category. If you add chakra and tap on the category, it'll release everything in that category. The same will happen if you use chakra to tap on an individual listed item."
'Very similar, yet different from Tomoe-san's seals.' Minato analyzed. 'While both fuinjutsu styles use any letter, symbol, or number as a seal, Tomoe-san's always required chakra to activate or manipulate it. She also was never able to add multiple space pockets within one seal the way Fujiwara-san has done.'
Curious on how the categories worked, Minato gathered chakra on his fingers and tapped on "Shinobi-25%". His eyes widened when he felt Mouse move to stand beside him with a kunai drawn. Minato looked towards Sora, only to be shocked to see that his view was blocked by lots and lots of boxes. On his floor were boxes stacked on top of one another going all the way up to his office ceiling. Even his desk was covered in boxes. On all four sides of the box, an image of Hashirama tree with three butterflies was displayed. Above the logo was the word, 'Shinobi', and below the logo were labels of what he assumed to be the contents inside the box.
The minute they realized they were being surrounded, Shisui and Yugao quickly drew their kunai, only to slowly put them back into their pouches. Staring right back at them were the words, 'Mango Mochi Ice Cream'.
Just like his teammates, Tenzo too had quickly drawn his weapon, only to freeze. His mouths hanged opened from behind the mask. In front of him were the words, 'Candied Walnuts.'
Sora eeped as she was suddenly grabbed by Hound. Seeing how close her face was to his chest, Sora's face heated up as she quickly distanced herself from him. She muttered out, "Thank you." Hound nodded his head.
As she looked around, she found themselves being surrounded by boxes. Sora called out, "I apologize, Hokage-sama, I should've warned you."
Minato laughed. "No harm done. Is everyone alright?"
A series of yes was heard. Glad that no one was harmed, Minato asked, "Daimyo-sama, how do I put them back into the scroll?"
Sora straightened out her yukata and called out, "You cannot. Once it has been activated, the seal will disappear and become regular letters and numbers."
Minato blinked at the scroll. Indeed. The 'Shinobi-25%' category was no longer glowing, and it had automatically expanded its list underneath. Minato touched one of the words with his thumb and it smeared like ink. 'How interesting.'
"Tanuki, Robin," Minato called out.
Genma and Raidou opened the door only to stop and stare at the boxes that had walled the entranceway. Worried, they called out, "Hokage-sama?"
"Get me all available Genin at once to move the boxes out to the Merchant Processing Department."
Genma and Raidou called out "Hai," and sprinted to find as many Genin as possible.
Sora muttered to herself, "It didn't seem like a lot when I was packing."
Kakashi looked at the boxes that was surrounding them both, and was surprised to see one labeled, 'Dried Eggplant Miso Soup Powder'.
'I definitely have to grab some,' he thought, continuing to look around.
They soon heard a series of voices call out, "Hokage-sama!"
Minato laughed, "Glad you all could come so quickly. We got ourselves a predicament. While I cannot see you all now, your mission is to bring these boxes to the Merchant Processing Department. Once the room has been cleared, I can properly greet you."
Everyone gave a response and set to work. Raidou reached up to bring one of the boxes down, only to pause. On top of the box were the words, 'Recommended Rank: Academy'.
"Hokage-sama?" Raidou called out.
"Yes?" Minato asked, curious.
"This box has the words 'Recommended Rank: Academy' on it." Raidou shifted the box to see what was inside the box. "It's a box of chocolate milk." He handed the box to Genma to grab another box. "This one says Genin, and it's a box of mixed trail mix."
'What is chocolate milk and trail mix?' Everyone thought.
Kakashi turned to look at Sora in question. Sora shrugged, "While the Hokage is the one to decide on who gets what, my business contract states that I can label the boxes however I wanted."
Kakashi hmmed. Minato, having heard this smiled as he looked at the box he had grabbed from his desk. On the side, it was labeled 'Soothing Tea Leaves'. On the top it was labeled, 'Recommended Rank: Hokage'.
Minato called out, "It's decided then. After processing is done, each box will be sent to their corresponding ranks. From there, I will decide on how to proceed. Each Genin are to grab a box. This is only the first set of boxes. There are three more."
Everyone set to work. Slowly, but surely, boxes were being brought out from the office.
At the Merchant Processing Department, the workers recognized the logo immediately as soon as the first Genin walked through the doors with a box.
One worker excitedly whispered out, "Do you think Fujiwara-san is in the village?"
Another worker whispers back, "I doubt it. Fujiwara-san always sends a messenger."
Each year, when it came to processing merchandise from the capitol, everyone was excited to see boxes from Tree Leaves. They always found interesting and exotic things from Fujiwara-san's business.
As more and more Genin came in through the doors, the Head Merchant Processer called out, "Okay everyone! It's that time of year again. We can all admire the items later. We got a job to do!"
Everyone scrambled to their stations to begin processing.
When Sora could finally see over the boxes, she observed the Genin that were coming in and out. 'There must be around fifty Genin. However, out of that many, only nine have a sensei. No matter the age, the other Genin seem to not be in a team, or have a sensei whatsoever. What do the other Genin do if they aren't assigned to teams?' Sora curiously wondered.
The more Sora observed, the more peculiar she thought things were between the Genin. It was as if there was a distinct divide between Genin who were in an established team with a sensei, versus Genin who had neither team nor sensei. Genin in established teams didn't stray far from their own team. In fact, some of the team members would either ignore or sneer at the other teams. On the other hand, Genin who had no team or sensei were cordial with one another, and some helped one another. She watched a Genin in one of the established teams send a smug look at a Genin who had no team nor sensei. This occurred three times between six different individuals.
'How odd. They treat one another as if there's a totem pole. Are they not comrades?' Sora thought sadly.
'What could she be thinking of?' Kakashi wondered as he saw a variety of emotions fly across her face. Kakashi looked out to see what she was looking at and found nothing out of the ordinary.
When Sora and the others could walk around the room again, Minato stated, "I'll take care of the rest of the boxes on this scroll. This will be my little break from paperwork. I'm sure you have other duties to attend to, Daimyo-sama."
Sora's bowed, "If you're sure, Hokage-sama."
Minato nodded his head. "If you need anything, Daimyo-sama, let Hound and his team know."
Sora nodded her head, "Of course!"
She and Team Ro turned to exit the office.