It took us thirty seven days inside the dungeon for us to scavenge enough money to buy a plot of land near the cliff. Shizune made sure to find us the most efficient way to run through each layer while maximizing the places we might find something. Spending this time with her I realized how much she cares for us. I used to think that she was just Tsunade's caretaker but she's really putting her all into this. She's been treating me like her own family this whole time and I'm really grateful for that.
"Tobi if you daze off like that in the middle of a fight you'll be killed" Shizune had kicked my legs out from under me causing me to fall down. I landed on my back and I was breathing heavily. Trying to move my body only caused pain right now. I gave up and just laid flat on the ground. Shizune stood over me while giggling to herself "Looks like we'll have to call it a day."
"Thanks. I'm just going to sleep here for now" I said closing my eyes.
"Take your time. We'll explore one of the lower areas today when you're ready." Shizune walked away to spend some time training on her own. She always had more energy than I did. Our spars were like a light warm up exercise for her. She's been training much harder than I have since we've gotten here. It doesn't mean that I've been slacking but I've been spending more time with my pokemon. I recently won my ten battles at the Adventurer's Club which caused the quest with the question marks to finish. Turns out the reward was two stones to evolve pokemon. I took a fire stone and a moon stone. I didn't know what Tsunade was up to but I wanted to make sure Shizune and I could be as strong as possible. If I knew which kind of evolution she wanted to have for Yoko I would have chosen that one as part of my reward. Shizune however won twice as many as me but didn't get anything.
It took a few hours for me to feel up to walking again. Once I was up Shizune had already finished her training and cleaned up. We went into the dungeon once and practically ran through the levels of Rattata Fields. We encountered the middle part as some people called it. The valleys we had in the fields were no longer visible as it seemed like winding mountain paths were the only thing we could see. Once we got through a path it would lead to an area where the pokemon would live. It was closer to being a bunch of connecting rooms than an environment like earlier. Each area had a specific pokemon or type of pokemon. The first one we stumbled upon had a horde of Cubones walking around.
It took 3 days of this for the Shizune's first pokemon to evolve. Her Nidoran became a Nidorino but she looked a little upset that it wasn't as adorable anymore. I didn't want to tell her how much it will change if I give her the stone I'm holding onto. We continued on for another couple of hours where I found what I was waiting for most a Larvitar. This is the pokemon I've wanted most since I found out I could come here. The area we found them in was riddle with small mounds that they would use to run around on. Shizune and I sat on top of one of these mounds to observe the area. There were a lot of them so I wanted to pick one that felt right.
"What kind of pokemon is this?" Shizune asked next to me.
"Compared to all of the pokemon that we've found it might be the strongest when its fully grown. It will be able to summon sandstorms whenever it wants and shake the earth." I said as I smiled at her. She looked at the dozen or so little stubby creatures tumbling over themselves and couldn't see it.
"That's a little hard to believe looking at them right now."
"Yeah it is. Now let's see if one of them sticks out from the others." I said laughing. She was right they don't look all that powerful right now. We sat there for a bit longer but all they did was eat dirt and fall over each other. I thought this would be a lot more interesting than just seeing them wander all over the place. The Psyducks we saw on the way here were more interesting than those. I sat up getting ready to move to another mound to watch another group of them. Shizune got up as well but she stopped when she realized something was a bit off. Behind her a Larvitar was eating some of the food she left in her pouch.
"Shizune how come you didn't tell me you were feeding one." I wasn't sure if this guy snuck up on us or not.
"Well the thing is I didn't know he was there." Shizune said feeling a little upset that she lost her back to one of these. It hurt her pride a bit to admit it. The Larvitar looked at both of us and picked up some of the dirt next to him and threw it at us. We put our hands up to shield our eyes and he was gone.
"Tobi I don't like that one. I think I'm going to kill it." Shizune had already taken a kunai out of her bag.
"Hold on Shizune. Why don't we catch it instead since that one seemed more capable than the others here." I said as we both looked at the sad excuses we saw below us.
"Fine I'll leave it near dead for you but make sure you train it well." This one really hurt her pride as she then made some hand seals to breathe fire down the hole he had jumped into. We could see the fire come out of some of the other holes on the mounds near us. On the one behind us I could see an angry Larvitar staring us down. It looked like it decided to fight us and soon it created a rock slide heading towards us. It was easy to dodge for the two of us but Shizune didn't expect such a wide scale from a small creature. We jumped to a few mounds away as other Larvitars started to scatter. It buried into the ground again disappearing from our view.
"He's surprisingly smart for one of these pokemon." Shizune muttered as she put her kunai away. "I think this is a good match for you. He looks much smarter than the ones around us."
At that moment we were affected by a pulse he had thrown out to us from underground but it didn't have much of an effect on us. It then came out of the ground to try and headbutt Shizune. I had let out Ivysaur to fight on our behalf as this could be a good fight for him to gain some experience. The two stared at each other for a bit. Ivysaur let his vines out as he could control four of them right now. They scattered in different directions to surround his opponent. The Larvitar dug underground again to get away. Ivysaur had two of his vines follow below while the other two came back to him. The Larvitar was content hiding underground and didn't move for a minute. Ivysaur got tired of waiting so he let out some spores from the flower on his back.
Just as he finished the Larvitar appeared behind him. He caused another rock slide from the mound behind him. Ivysaur jumped back but continued to release spores into the area. The Larvitar made an effort to run away but the rock slide had pushed him into the path of the spores. Soon he laid there paralyzed while Ivysaur started to take out its temper on it using his vines. Shizune was content with what she saw so I finally threw a ball at the injured pokemon in front of us. It took three tries to catch this guy. Out of all of the pokemon we've encountered he's been the most willful of the bunch.
After we caught Larvitar who I've decided to name Lava. We went back to the village. Shizune and I decided to camp out for a night outside of the village area. The night settled and it was peaceful. The stars were beautiful above us as the fire in front of us was enough to entertain the two of us. We talked about what had happened during our trip through the dungeon seeing if either of us missed anything that the other had noticed. We then filled in the map we've been making a little more.
"I know asking you is pointless but when will I know what's going on?" I asked hoping that today she might tell me something about what's going on outside. The outside never left my mind but being here certainly made it hard to remember how cruel the world outside could be.
"I'm sorry Tobi. I really am but I can't tell you yet. When Tsunade gets back it will be up to her what she tells you." She had a melancholic look on her face.
"I know. I was hoping that maybe it might work."
"It won't but I think I can do something to make the time in here a little more interesting." She said hoping to move me off of that subject.
"What is it?"
"I was thinking its about time you started to learn how to use kunai and shurikens. You've done well in learning some basic taijutsu so now I think you can learn some basics in other areas." She smiled at me "You know I was worried a lot when we first got here. I wasn't sure if I could hold up my promise of taking care of you to Tsunade but thanks to you it has been a lot easier than I thought. Thanks, Tobi."
"Its been a lot of fun going on adventures with you. You've been doing so much for me and I know you always put me first. Its like your my sister taking care of me." My voice trailed off as I was embarrassed about that last part.
"I'm sorry I didn't quite catch that last part." She said teasing me
"You're like my big sister. OKAY!" I said as my face was completely red.
"You're too cute" She said with a laugh. She ruffled my hair like so many others have. "I think of you as my family too. Not all of my family is around anymore so being here with you, Tsuna and Tsunade has been amazing."
I took the moon stone out of my pocket and handed it to Shizune. "This is for you. When you think your Nidorino is ready to evolve that will help him."
"Wait I can't accept this since its your reward from that guy in the club."
"I think he gave them to me to get me to help him talk to you. He kept asking only about you when we finished talking. I thought it was weird so I just made some stuff up." I told her as I never saw her interested in any guys before.
"What did you say about me It better not be anything rude or I'll make sure you'll never do anything other than running as your training from now on." She was flustered which I didn't expect.
"I just told him a bunch of stuff he seemed to take note of it and told me not to tell you that he asked." She got even redder as we talked a bit more but she always tried to change the topic.
"When I was in the hospital Kushina told me about political marriages. She told me how they work and I think Tsunade should do that for you. I can't have my sister being single for the rest of her life." Shizune had lost her last strand of rationality with that as she started to chase me all around the campsite we made. We ran around for a little bit and eventually we laid down watching the stars laughing until we fell asleep for the night.
Another month passed in the blink of an eye. Our training on shurikens and kunai went well. I was more surprised on this part as I thought my aim would be pretty bad. Every now and then I would practice my ninjutsu and chakra control. Tsunade had told me to concentrate on this when I got to an acceptable physical level first. Shizune had said I was getting close so she allowed me to do a little bit. I was finally able to form a proper wood style jutsu but the log I made was about a foot tall right now. I created a water jutsu that honestly I probably will never show to anyone else. It's like a party trick that a certain useless goddess might use. I called it water style bubble explosion but it's even worse than the bubble attack I saw a squirtle use in the dungeon. I mean I did use that as a basis for this it just hurts my pride knowing that this is the best I could do right now. The quest reward for creating a jutsu was given out to me for making it. Turns out it was so weak that the quest gave me nothing.
I found out that Ivysaur loves to eat flowers. Whenever I make some he will always try to eat some. Then he'll play around with them and finally end up sleeping on them. It has gotten to the point when we camp out he refuses to sleep without flowers underneath him. Lava however has to ruin everyone's fun by throwing dirt on them most of the time. I seriously need to work with him as his standoffish attitude has only gotten worse. Shizune and I used both of our stones the other night and she was horrified that her cute little Nidoran was now a hulking mass of muscle. I had to hop on my new Arcanine to get away from her wrath that night. She went to bed that night telling her Cyndaquil to never evolve since it was adorable as it was.
The rest of our time passed by quickly. We were standing at the rift's exit preparing for what we might find when we get out. Shizune had prepared for battle while I just kind of sat there. I've improved a lot in these twelve weeks in here but I'm still not at the level of a genin. My biggest problem is I can't seem to get any better with chakra control. I wish I knew how to do it better but I was told to just keep trying the exercise Shizune gave me of keeping a leaf stuck to my forehead.
"Tobi, be ready for anything if you sense any danger send us right back." I took Shizune's hand and clicked the prompt. A sensation that I started getting used to was encompassing us. In a moment we no longer saw the cliff in front of us but the Senju Compound.
"Shizune are we safe?" I asked since I couldn't sense other shinobi yet. Shizune took a look around still ready for a battle at any time. Then slowly she dropped her stance.
"I can't sense anyone. Let's check around the compound and see if we can find any clues. Tobi you stay here and if there is any signs of danger or I don't check in after 15 minutes go back in. I don't want to hear any excuses Tobi. Until I can figure out if the danger has passed you're to stay right here understand?" I nodded. This was something she had to do so I could only watch as she walked away.
"Be safe, please." It took her ten minutes to come back. She told me there were signs of a fight but she couldn't figure out what happened besides that.
"I'm going to go into the village to see if I can find an update from the hokage. I want you to hide back in the rift. If you don't see me in this courtyard then immediately go back in. Until you hear from me that it's okay to come out stay inside Tobi. I'm counting on you." With that she pat my head, gave me a smile and waved farewell. I did as she said and went back in the rift. I cursed the fact that I was a hindrance and even after all this time I still had no idea what was going on. Just like she asked each day I visited outside. It took 3 days or six hours depending on which clock you wanted to use before she was back at the compound. On the porch in front of the frog pond she sat there with a smile on her face. "Glad you're back Tobi. They're waiting for you inside." I didn't drop my guard since I know I can't tell if its an imposter. I didn't move an inch from the spot nor did I speak. I just stared at her trying to figure out if I can believe her. I took out one of the shurikens I received from Shizune. I can only hit 4 out of 10 targets right now so I can't say I'm good with these yet.
Shizune didn't have any reaction to me pulling out my shuriken. She just sat there smiling still which kind of upset me. It made me feel uncomfortable. I can't remember her smiling this much is that why? I threw my shuriken at her it was off course but it should hit her somewhere. She didn't bother to move as it ended up hitting behind her.
"Perfect Tobi." Shizune then made a hand sign and released a jutsu. Tsunade had done a transformation jutsu to turn into Shizune. I have to say I'm pretty confused but I took out a second shuriken just in case. I still haven't said anything but I started scanning my surroundings a bit more without taking my eyes off of Tsunade. Part of me wanted to jump back inside and the other wanted me to believe that it really was over. I mean I haven't seen Tsunade or Tsuna in over six months if we include the time in the rift. It might have been just more than a month for them but I really missed them.
"Is it really you?" I asked hoping to find something to that could tell me it's true.
"Yeah it is. Tsuna you can come out now." As soon as she said that a door opened up and a little girl ran out of the house towards me. She jumped on me with enough momentum to send me straight to the ground. Tsuna just cried on my chest happy to see me and looking over us was Tsunade. "That was perfect Tobi. You didn't blindly believe what you saw. I can't tell you how proud I am of you right now. You may not be strong now but you have a good heart."
Tsunade picked us both up and brought us back over to the porch. Tsuna continued to cry into her mother's clothes while I noticed Shizune, Mako, Koko and Konan. I shivered when I noticed the last one. I still had no idea what she was doing with the leaf. I couldn't understand why Tsunade was keeping her here. Had her story changed from what I knew?
"Tobi how's your injury? I heard you managed to use a real wood style jutsu to stop the bleeding that day."
"I heard that I did but I don't remember. I've been practicing and now I can make a little bit of wood but it's not very useful" I told her how I could barely make a two foot tall branch now. It takes up most of my chakra since my control is so poor.
"Incredible even I can't use that and he was my grandfather. I'm proud of what you've done while I was away. Shizune has told me a little bit of what you two have gone through in the time we were gone." She rubbed our backs showing how much she cared about Tsuna and I. She took the two of us inside and we went to a meeting room that's usually used to entertain guests. Everyone took a seat in the room and Tsuna sat next to me holding onto my arm. I looked at Tsunade but she shook her head telling me not to ask. I was curious if she was now like me. Hopefully she was just shaking her head to try and tell me that she's my problem instead of hers right now. Once everyone was settled Tsunade began to talk to us.
"I have to apologize to everyone here. I failed you and I failed this village. We underestimated our opponent and we lost a lot of people because of it. The blame lies with me and because of this all that is left of our Senju Clan is in this room. We were overconfident in ourselves and allowed an enemy to strike where we were weakest. Tobi I don't know how exactly you weren't abducted but you should know Danzo had abducted numerous children from different clans all over Konoha. This includes Tsuna, the two children of the Namikazes, some Hyuuga children and other smaller clans. The only clan unaffected by this were the Uchiha because the operatives who was sent there was killed by one of the children there."
"Then that means the past month you have been..?"
"Chasing after what was left of his organization to rescue the children."
"Shizune has filled me in on the time you have spent here. A while ago you encountered a few masked men here which were most likely sent when we had rescued Tsuna as the last of the kidnapped children. Those men were killed by Minato and Jiraiya who had come to check on you while I was away." I had a nagging thought this entire time. That I was the cause of this. I was the cause that led to Tsuna and apparently the other children all getting kidnapped. I know thinking like this isn't good but it was something that always lingered at the edge of my mind. Just enough to not be affecting me but not entirely forgotten. On the other hand if I had let Danzo do what he wanted how much more powerful would he be in the future? What if he became the next hokage. Sasuke most likely won't join The Akatsuki in this life since Itachi never massacred the clan. If he was elected to be the Hokage at any point then the village would be shaped by his twisted vision. When thinking like that I could hold my head up high thinking I did the right thing.
"Is he...dead?" If he isn't then it will be a problem for the future. I can only imagine how he'd want to get revenge for this. Would the Akatsuki be willing to support him or would he and Orochimaru become allies instead of just having a mutual interest.
"Unfortunately he got away in the end. We managed to eliminate most of those loyal to him while a few were taken into custody. If we're lucky we might be having a new member join our clan. We will have to await the word of the Hokage on that."
"Did Yamato turn traitor against Danzo?"
"You know about him? Hmm, I thought you might be able to guess it which means…" She paused in thought before stopping herself "Nevermind we can talk about that later. If the hokage approves I wish to have him teach you as much as possible. I haven't heard too much about him but there are people who vouch for him."
After that Tsunade recounted the events of what happened and each person added what they did. Konan stayed silent in the corner. Mako talked about how his group had been surrounded and he was the only survivor. One of the Senju members he had managed to save had died during treatment. Koko talked about how she had participated with a few jonins of the village on scouting missions. It didn't take long until the meeting was over and that we would hold a memorial ceremony for the members we've lost. Tsunade had used our guards to supplement trying to take down Danzo and his men. We lost 13 people and 4 more were injured to the point they can't continue to work as shinobi. Tsunade said she would find them a way to make a living and thanked them for their service. Mako, Koko and Konan all apologized to me for not being able to protect me. I told them there was nothing they could have done differently. How could they stop something they weren't there for. It didn't take long for things to calm down considerably.
"There is one last thing I want to say before we end this meeting." Tsunade said as the room once again became quiet. "Konan on this mission made me proud. She single handedly rescued seven children from three different bases that we infiltrated she also dispatched four different jonin level ninjas by herself. Without her many clans would not be celebrating their children's safe return. Konan, on behalf of Konoha and The Senju Clan I'd like to extend to you our gratitude. As I promised you beforehand from this point on I'd like to formally adopt you. If you wish to accept you will be able to call yourself Konan Senju. If this isn't what you want then I will fulfill whatever wish you do have. You have our thanks." Tsunade smiled as she then embraced Konan and told her once more how proud of her she was.
"I would be honored to accept." She had looked around the room with a smile on her face. She was happy and so was the rest of the room. There were cheers from the others and Tsuna was excited to have another sister. I was the only one having a problem accepting this as it just felt so wrong.