Previously on Finding My Way
"He is my best friend."
'My moon and sun, my treasure and legacy.'
"You… you are lovely miss."
"Call me Shika."
'I wonder… will I meet him?'
Now [Chapter 5: Anomoly]
Yasuko's POV
I frowned, feeling a rough and wet entity slide itself against my cheek. Groaning, I narrowed my eyes at the offender atop me.
"Ru-kun… get off."
As if smirking at me, the tiger bounded gracefully off the bed, tail swaying as if mocking me as he sashayed out the room.
"Good morning Yasuko."
I grimaced as I wiped away the saliva on my cheek, deadpanning at the snickering silver-haired man by my door.
"Okay, maybe not a good morning for you."
I frowned, crawling off the bed to get ready. I hummed as I glanced at the clock, head tilting in confusion.
"Kakashi-oji… didn't we have something to do today?" I asked.
The man hummed, reading his orange book. Hand placed on his chin, I rose an eyebrow as he gave me a eureka pose with his usual closed eye smile. "We have a meeting with the Hokage for your class placement at the Academy at nine." Silence surrounded us before the realization hit me.
"Eh?! Kakashi-oji, that was two hours ago!" I squeaked, rushing around to grab my things. I quickly changed and brushed my hair into its usual ponytail in the bathroom.
"Haha, sorry Yasuko, I seem to have forg- OW!" Mimicking the man's closed eye smile, I patted my loyal friend's head in thanks.
"You deserved that, Kakashi-oji."
The silver-haired man pouted behind his mask, rubbing his bottom. Grabbing my katana, I strapped it onto my back, before catching the older ninja's hand and dragging him down the steps of his home. Just as we were making our way out, I frowned, staring up at the bemused ninja.
"You're a former ANBU, can't you use the shushin to get us there faster?" I asked.
Kakashi chuckled, before crouching down his back to me. Eye-smiling at me he rose a brow. "We're gonna be even later if you don't hurry up, Yasuko."
I blushed, before carefully climbing up. "Ready, Yasuko?" Wrapping my arms securely but not too tight, I hummed. "Ready, Kakashi-oji."
Being a highly skilled ninja, I knew Kakashi had no need for hand signs for a jutsu he has used millions of times before. I closed my eyes as the familiar sensation of the just flew over me. I groaned, hiding my face in the silvernet's neck. Vertigo always hit me when I accompanied someone using this jutsu.
"You okay there, Yasuko?" I frowned, tugging the man's hair lightly when I heard the amusement in his voice.
"It's not funny, Kakashi-oji." I pouted, sliding off his back. Making sure I had everything, I frowned when I didn't see a familiar fluff ball. My eyes widened, as I tugged Kakashi's pants.
"We forgot Ru-kun!" My eyes teared up. Though it was rather childish of me, I didn't feel comfortable in such a foreign place without my friend. Kakashi's eyes widened, from my tears or the realization that we had indeed left the tiger behind, I wasn't sure.
"Stay with the Hokage, Yasuko. I'll get him."
With a poof, the former ANBU was gone. I bit my lip, staring at the door that we had teleported to. Hesitantly knocking, I shifted my weight from side to side nervously.
"Come in."
Pushing the door in, I peeked my head in. The Hokage smiled at me from over his piles of paperwork, motioning me forward with his hand.
"Good morning, Yasuko. I assume Kakashi got lost on the path of life again?" Blushing, I looked at my feet. I sheepishly smiled.
"I'm sorry for our tardiness, Hokage-sama." I bowed.
The old man chuckled, removing his pipe. "It's fine Yasuko, however, where is Kakashi? He was ordered to be your escort."
I pouted, my eyes shining as I held back my tears. I whimpered, as I rose my hands to wipe away the stray tears.
Hokage's POV
My eyes widened as Yasuko tried to hold back her tears, wiping away the evidence as more fell.
"Kakashi-oji went back. W-we forgot to bring R-Ru-kun." She sniffed.
My eyes softened as I stood and brought the child into my arms. I patted her back reassuringly as I returned to my sit, the Uchiha on my lap.
Seeing Yasuko curl in herself as she tried to hide her tears, shows beyond a doubt that behind all the bravery and maturity, she was still a child. A child who had been separated from her father and left alone to fend for herself in a possibly hostile village.
"Shh Yasuko," I carefully loosened the child's hair from its bindings to card my fingers through soothingly, "Kakashi will be here soon with your friend. I'm sure you don't want Ru to see you like this."
Sensing a chakra signature flash in front of the office doors I hummed. "That should be them now." A knock only confirmed my words.
Yasuko straightened herself in my lap. Wiping away her tears as she stared at the door hopefully.
Hiding a smile, I called for our guests to enter. Kakashi rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, a white tiger following behind him. The tiger looked as if it was glaring at Kakashi before it bounded to the youngest occupant of the room.
Yasuko grinned, jumping off my lap to wrap her arms around her friend. Ru growled playfully, nudging her cheek in a reprimanding manner.
"Sorry for leaving you behind, Ru-kun." Yasuko tone revealed her sincere apology. Sensing this, Ru purred, nuzzling the underside of her chin, causing the child to giggle.
Kakashi and I shared a look before I coughed, interrupting the two friend's moment. "Shall we begin the purpose of this meeting, Yasuko?"
The young Uchiha hummed, nodding her head as she moved to stand beside Kakashi.
Yasuko's POV
"As you know, I called you here to confirm your placement in the Academy," I nodded, confirming the Hokage's statement, "As we don't know your capabilities, we decided to test you before we figure out which class to place you in."
I hummed and nodded. "What will I be tested on?"
"We will first have a medic nin come in and give you a checkup. We are not sure of the state you are in or how large your chakra reserves are. This will give us a base on the difficulty of ninjutsu you may be able to perform so we will not have to go through a trial and error with the potential of harming you through chakra exhaustion." The Hokage explained.
I blinked but understood the logic behind their actions. It would be very dangerous and possibly life-threatening just to have someone do random justus without knowing their capabilities.
The Hokage called for a medic while Kakashi led me out of the office and into another room. A futon had been placed on the ground where I assume I would have to lay on during the examination.
When the door slid open I instinctively moved closer to Kakashi's side causing the older ninja to place a reassuring pat on my head.
"Yasuko, this is one of our few ANBU field medic operatives; codename Usagi. She shall be performing your examination today." the Hokage introduced.
Like all on-duty ANBU, the kunoichi wore her ANBU mask and uniform, tattoo visible on her right upper arm.
The ANBU slowly moved forward, falling to one knee to be eye level with me. "I'll need you to be asleep for a proper examination on your chakra network. With your consent, Hatake-sama will place you under a genjutsu. Is that acceptable, Uchiha-chan?"
My eyebrows furrowed. Papa had given me Mama's notes as she was an excellent medic nin that was on her way to being on the same level as Tsunade-sama. Nowhere in her notes had it said that a patient must be asleep to have their chakra networks examined. It's entirely impractical when a medic nin needs to perform a scan while on the field.
I stared up at my current guardian with hesitant eyes. I internally frowned when he just gave me his usual eye smile and nodded his head encouragingly. I glanced over at Ru, who had taken to stand guard, observing everyone from the corner of the room.
Biting my lip I nodded hesitantly, trusting my friends to protect me if anything went wrong and turned to face my guardian. He smiled, patting my head before moving his headband up. Taking a deep breath I stared at his closed eye, allowing the genjutsu to wash over as his eye opened, flashing me my clan's infamous dōjutsu.
3rd Person POV
Kakashi quickly caught the child, laying her across the futon on her stomach before replacing his headband.
"Kakashi."
The silver-haired shinobi nodded before shifting Yasuko's shirt to reveal her shoulders. Brushing loose strands of her hair away from her neck, he pulled out a brush and an inkwell. With delicate movements, he concentrated on his work, making sure not a single stroke was out of place.
Placing the ink and brush beside him, he concentrated his chakra into his palm, putting a gentle hand on the seal. As he removed his palm, the trio watched as the ink seeped into the young girl's neck.
"The tracking seal has been placed Hokage-sama. A concealment seal has been added for it to avoid Yasuko's notice." Kakashi reported.
The Hokage nodded before waving his hand to the ANBU, allowing her to begin her examination.
Usagi knelt beside the Uchiha's prone form watching as Kakashi moved Yasuko onto her back. Green chakra covered her hands, hovering them above Yasuko. The trio ignored the low warning growl's coming from the Uchiha's tiger companion, focusing on the task at hand.
Usagi's brows furrowed from behind her mask as she triple checked to make sure she wasn't imagining what she was seeing.
"Hokage-sama, the Uchiha-chan's chakra reserves are immense for a child her age. She far surpasses those in the graduating class of the Academy except for Uzumaki-san." Usagi frowned, focusing her scan around the child's chest, "But there is an anomaly in her chakra network in her chest area… more specifically around the heart, Hokage-sama."
The Hokage and Kakashi were alarmed at the news.
"Explain Usagi." The Hokage ordered.
The ANBU allowed the chakra to fade from her hands and reported her findings. "There's an influx of foreign chakra surrounding Uchiha-chan's heart. It's not harming her, but I have no knowledge of what its purpose is. It's possible that it could be sealed chakra that can be activated by whoever had sealed it."
Kakashi's eyes widened at the implications. "But a chakra burst so close to the tenketsu points-!"
Usagi nodded solemnly. "It could cause her heart to give out. It's possible that the Akatsuki had foreseen her possible capture and prepared so there would be no possible leak in information. It may activate if she speaks of any sensitive information she may have overheard during her time in the Akatsuki."
Kakashi cursed, glaring at the floor as the killer intent rose within him. The Hokage could only frown, staring at the young Uchiha, lying peacefully on the futon, unaware of her possible fate.
"You said that was a possibility, what else could the foreign chakra be?" The Hokage wanted every possible outcome known. He knew that Itachi would not have placed what is necessarily a suicide seal on his own daughter. Though the possibility that even Itachi wasn't aware filled his thoughts, he forcefully filed those thoughts away. Itachi would have noticed an anomaly in his daughter with his Sharingan.
"Usually a suicide seal is placed atop the skin, and then the user would send their own chakra into the seal to activate it. This would send an electric shock through the heart or brain, depending on the location of the seal. This could be a variation of the suicide seal so another could activate it even from a distance, but the chakra… I've never felt anything like it before. If I could compare it… it's quite similar to the sealed chakra of the Kyuubi, Hokage-sama."
The Hokage's eyes narrowed in thought. "Could she be a jinchuriki?"
Usagi nodded her head. "It is a possibility Hokage-sama, but I am a medic nin. My knowledge of sealing is limited. It would be best to have Jiraiya-sama examine Uchiha-chan."
The Hokage sighed and nodded. "Usagi, you will check Yasuko every two weeks during the resealing of the tracking seal. Send notices to the sensors of Yasuko's watch team to monitor her chakra for abnormalities along with the activity of the foreign chakra. We have no solid evidence that the chakra is a variant of the suicide seal or if she is housing a chakra entity. Kakashi, monitor her. Report any suspicious activities to me. If she has sudden bursts of pain from her chest, I want her sent to ANBU medical wing immediately."
Usagi and Kakashi nodded. "Hai, Hokage-sama!"
Once dismissed, Usagi bowed, exiting the room quickly to fulfill her orders. Kakashi frowned, watching as Ru finally moved from his guard position to lie protectively around Yasuko.
"Is it not possible to just remove the chakra, Hokage-sama?"
The old man sighed, taking out his pipe. Taking a long drag, he puffed, "We cannot be sure that they aren't monitoring the seal. If it is a variant suicide seal, I do not want them having any possible thoughts of activating it. On the other hand, if it is a chakra entity, we have no clue what it is. I do not wish to have a repeat of the Kyuubi attack. It's also possible it could be neither of those two. We cannot work on removing the foreign chakra with so many unknown variables."
Kakashi winced at the thought but nodded solemnly. "Do you think Yasuko is aware?" He murmured.
The Hokage closed his eyes, a solemn silence around him. "Between a suicide seal and a jinchuriki… would a child as kind as Yasuko know of her own situation?" The Hokage asked.
Kakashi clenched his fist, shaking his head. "Even the most hardened of ninja have an air of solemn acceptance when given a suicide pill for infiltration missions."
The Hokage nodded, taking a final drag of his pipe, before moving to return to his office. "I shall prepare the written portion of Yasuko's placement test. Release the genjutsu but do not wake her. She deserves a few hours of rest."
Kakashi nodded. When the Hokage left, the door sliding shut behind him, Kakashi moved, kneeling down beside the child that had managed to worm her way into his heart.
His shoulders slumped, as he stared at Yasuko with forlorn eyes. Placing a hand on her forehead, he released her from the genjutsu. He sighed as he carefully brushed away her bangs, smiling behind his mask as Yasuko leaned into his hand as he caressed her cheek.
"You Uchiha never seem to get a break…"
I've finally updated. I know I suck. But the drama~ Oooo looks like things are getting dangerous for Yasuko. Leave a review on your thoughts! Criticism is accepted but please don't be overly harsh.
Updated: 19/06/29
Next time on Finding My Way
"You noticed as well, haven't you, Kakashi?"
"Just like her father."
[Chapter 6: Like Her Father]