"It has been said, 'time heals all wounds.' I do not agree. The wounds remain. In time, the mind, protecting its sanity, covers them with scar tissue and the pain lessens. But it is never gone."
-Rose Kennedy
Chapter 33: The Pain Lessens
"Shujutsu: Suishu no Jutsu!" Kei looked down at her hands warily. They glowed a slight blue after she cast the jutsu. Kei looked over to the side to reread the scroll that Kakashi had given her. "Am I really doing this right?" She mumbled under her breath as she scanned the scroll. The formerly white parchment was now browning at the sides from when she had touched the scroll with the jutsu active. Apparently, stealing water from scrolls made them more brittle and prone to falling apart.
The jutsu was quite easy to use. It didn't require much energy either. It did, on the other hand, require an insane amount of control. She had found out after the first few tries that while the jutsu did funnel water from other objects or people into her, accidentally touching herself made her a bit sick. It was probably the same effect as when people got flushed with fluids too quickly in hospitals.
Kei gingerly rolled the scroll a bit farther open with her foot. She wondered if there was any way to prevent her hands from glowing so much. It was kind of obvious that she had done something with her hands while they were like this. Kei's attention wandered and she rested her hands on the ground. She cursed as she started absorbing water from the ground, and hurriedly deactivated the jutsu. "Dang it. How am I going to explain this?" Kei looked around the once green field. Brown patches of grass dotted the field where she had accidentally touched the ground with the jutsu active. She had been forced to move around the field constantly to reach normal ground, and it appeared she'd have to be on the move again.
Kei rubbed her forehead in annoyance. She had been visiting the field for the past three weeks since she got the scroll from Kakashi. She had improved in using the jutsu, but that didn't mean she was satisfied. Control heavy jutsu were her specialty, and theShujutsu: Suishu no Jutsuwas exactly that. Unfortunately, the jutsu also required her to be close enough to her target to actually touch them. Kei didn't enjoy close combat fighting at all.
Kei sighed and picked up her notebook. She flipped towards the beginning of the book. That was where she had kept her notes about team formations. Her finger traced the line where it saidKei: Combatant. Kei grimaced. She was improving, but she still hated having to fulfill that role.
"I thought you would be doing a little more practicing and a little less loafing considering the exams begin again in only two days." Kei snapped her notebook shut and looked up at the man looming over her shoulder.
"I have been practicing. You've just arrived at an inopportune time," Kei replied shortly. "It's not as if you've given me much training or anything, Kakashi-sensei." Kakashi appeared to smile behind his mask as he crouched down beside Kei.
"Kids don't respect their teachers anymore," Kakashi lamented. He picked some of the browned grass around Kei and snickered. "When I gave you that scroll, I expected you to be fighting people with it, not grass."
Kei twitched. "It would be easier if you gave me something to respect, and you know that I wasn't attacking the grass. Anyways, it's not as if I can walk around sapping water out of people. Maybe I should use it on you as practice instead."
"Short temper. You had better fix that," Kakashi said, tousling Kei's hair. The girl swatted Kakashi's hand away and glared venomously. Kei stopped as Kakashi straightened himself and stared off down the road leading to the training grounds. She followed his trail of vision and saw a messenger hawk flying swiftly along the ground. The brown and black speckled bird swooped up as it neared the two, and then landed on Kakashi's outstretched arm.
Kakashi stroked the hawk gently and pulled the scrap of string that was wrapped around the hawk's leg. The string loosened and both it and the small scroll fell from the hawk's leg. "You have your ninja padding on, right? Take him for me." Kakashi held the hawk out towards Kei expectantly who stood dumbstruck. A few moments later, she gingerly held out her arm and the hawk hopped on.
Kakashi took the chance to read the small scroll. After a few minutes he closed it and stuck it back in his pocket. He put two fingers out and let the hawk climb back onto him before throwing the bird back into the air. As the bird flew away, Kakashi sighed. It looked like Sasuke would provide him with even more trouble now.
-TSUME-
"Futon: Daitoppa!" Naruto flipped through the seals before blowing out of his mouth. Shirakumo stood in front of him with his eyebrow raised. He hadn't even felt a little flickered of a breeze yet. Shirakumo sighed and rubbed his forehead.
"We'll stop for now, Naruto-san." Naruto sighed gloomily and sat down on the ground. "You're still struggling with the timing. The Futon requires you to blow within the second interval after you finish signing through the jutsu. All you are doing right now is expending the chakra without getting anything out of it." Shirakumo explained. "Luckily, you'll probably do better in an actual battle. The adrenaline will help you move quicker, but that doesn't mean you should slack off. We'll practice again tomorrow."
"Yes, Shirakumo-sensei," Naruto replied glumly. They had been practicing for well over two weeks already, and he just couldn't get it right. First, he used too much chakra. Shirakumo figured that out quickly because his lips had started glowing blue from all the chakra that had been pumped into them. Now, he took too long inhaling before blowing out the jutsu. It was such a nuisance.
"You're getting closer though, kiddo!" Jiraiya said cheerily walking up to the two. He had been watching from the sidelines again. Over the past few weeks he had been carefully monitoring Naruto's chakra expenditure and chakra levels. There had been no abnormal fluctuation in chakra capacity, but Naruto did tend to let out bursts of dispersed chakra when he was frustrated. Just looking at Naruto now, Jiraiya could see tiny waves of chakra coming out of Naruto.
It was a sign of seal deterioration, but Jiraiya had also been unable to monitor how Naruto was when he was younger. There was no baseline for Naruto's chakra usage which made it much more difficult for him.
"Leave me alone, old man! Geez. What are you still doing here anyways?" Naruto crossed his arms and glowered at Jiraiya who grinned back at him.
"I have a mission to complete here, Naruto-san. Come on, get over here." Jiraiya gestured for Naruto to come over and the younger boy sighed. This had become a ritual in the past few weeks. Whenever Naruto finished practice, Jiraiya would check his seal. Naruto didn't know how Jiraiya knew about the seal, but he assumed that the Hokage had told him about it. Shirakumo didn't seem to have a problem with Jiraiya checking his seal, so it had to be okay.
Naruto got up from the ground and walked over to Jiraiya. He crinkled up his shirt, and Jiraiya reached out with his chakra to reveal the complex seal on his stomach. The seal had grown over time to appear less and less like an inked in seal and more like a scar. The Eight Trigrams Seal had browned out more over time, something that worried Jiraiya. It was very possible that the Kyuubi was weakening the seal and causing the discoloration. The seal had originally been imprinted on Naruto when he was a child, and it wasn't as if a seal expanded as its owner grew. There were multiple reasons for sealing a tailed beast inside of an adult after all.
There was one part of the seal that confused him though. Jiraiya looked at the bottom half of the seal where one of the lines was strangely flat at the end. It almost looked as if someone had snapped off the end of the seal. "That's all I need, Naruto-san." Jiraiya withdrew his chakra and stood up, brushing off his knees.
Jiraiya wanted to trust Naruto, but he wasn't even close to reassured about Naruto's condition. There were too many signs. There were too many signs that Naruto could have already had contact with the Kyuubi.
-TSUME-
With the chuunin exams coming so quickly, Team Tsume had been unable to meet since the time just before Neji's death. That was why when each genin woke up with a note beside their beds that told them to come to the T&I department at noon, none of them were surprised. Kei was the first to arrive, being the only one who actually knew where T&I was. She was followed by Naruto and eventually, Shikamaru.
Inoichi stood at the doorway, waiting for all of them to arrive. Once they had all gathered together, Inoichi led them through the dimly hallways. Kei was mentally mapping out the division to draw out later since she had never actually beeninsidethe division before. When Shikamaru asked why the hallways were so dark, Inoichi replied, "It's supposed to look intimidating when we escort people through here. It wouldn't be nearly as scary if we had yellow and blue walls and brightly lit hallways, would it?"
Inoichi twisted open one of the doors and allowed the three genin inside before locking the door behind them. "I've already gone over the room for bugs and this room is soundproof, so you don't have to worry about being overheard." The room was simple. Stone walls surrounded them, and there was only a simple wooden table and four stools to fill the room. They all took seats at the table and quietly looked at one another. Shikamaru was the first to begin speaking.
"I found out something interesting a little bit ago. My father already knows about all of this." Shikamaru waved his arm around the room. "And then a bit more." It took a few moments for the information to sink in before the chaos broke out.
"What do you mean your father already knows about the rebellion?" Naruto exclaimed, slamming his hands on the table. "Wasn't it supposed to be a secret? Is he on our side?"
"Obviously, he is. Otherwise Shikamaru-kun wouldn't be here to talk to us," Inoichi said with a groan. He rubbed his forehead and asked, "How much does he already know? It's good that he's with us, I guess, but it is sort of annoying."
"He knows that there is a sizable force moving against the Hokage. He has a few names down for councilmembers that he suspects are on the other side and a couple that are confirmed." Shikamaru fished around in one of his pant pockets before pulling out a crumpled note. "I told him I was visiting you this afternoon, so he told me to give you this." Shikamaru handed the note over to Inoichi who skimmed it over before putting it in his pocket.
"Tell your father that I said thanks." Inoichi shook his head in exasperation. He and Shikaku may have been childhood friends, but he would never be able to read the man. He was just too confusing. There were too many layers to his mind, and Inoichi knew he would never be able to truly grasp everything that Shikaku knew. There would always be a few things that Inoichi would never know. "Is there anything else you wish to tell us, Shikamaru-kun?"
"Not really. I've been walking around the village more than training, but I haven't picked up too much that my dad didn't notice. He pretty much made my work redundant. How troublesome," Shikamaru grumbled. He laid his head down on the table and gave a sigh.
Inoichi looked around the table before saying, "Kei-chan, how about you go next?"
Kei stared at the notebook she had rested on the table. She had spent the last few weeks wondering if she should tell anyone about this and had only decided this morning that she would talk about it. "I'm worried about Ino-san, Inoichi-sensei. She shows signs of having more than the required five symptoms for being labeled with Borderline Personality Disorder. I-I've confirmed their appearance multiple times already. It's not that I'm accusing you of causing it or anything, but..."
Kei bit her lip. "It could have something do with the pressure caused by the rebellion. It is a long shot, but I'd prefer that Ino-san not be around for when the rebellion happens. She's in the finals, but I don't think it's safe for her." Kei's golden eyes flicked away from Inoichi as an intense guilt set in. She wouldn't have felt this way if she was telling any other mentor, but this was Inoichi's daughter. It just felt wrong telling him that something could be wrong with her.
Inoichi smiled weakly and said, "I've noticed that something is wrong with Ino as well. I'd like to pretend that she has just been growing up, but I'm afraid I can't let my relationship with Ino blind me. I'll try to do something about it in the next few days." Inoichi nodded and looked at his hands. Tsume could all tell that Inoichi looked painfully tired. There were bags under his eyes and his eyes didn't have the spark that they normally had. Inoichi put a hand to the side of his head and shook it. He took in a deep breath before saying, "Is there anything else you wanted to let us know about, Kei-chan?"
"Nothing important. I've started practicing more fuuinjutsu in my spare time. I'm stalling my medical ninjutsu training until after the exams. I know that it's important considering what will happen in the next few days, but I really won't learn enough in the time frame to make it worth it." Kei didn't talk about why she was researching fuuinjutsu. That would be something that she would keep to herself for now. She didn't want to talk to anyone about it until she was ready anyways.
Naruto looked at the other people around the table and tried to give a happy smile. The atmosphere in the room was so depressing. He couldn't help but feel a little bit worn out as well. "I guess I'm last then! Gai-sensei and Tenten-chan talked to me about a week ago. They went ahead with planting a bug in Hyuuga-san's office. They got some good intel before the bug was destroyed thought."
"Wait," Shikamaru cut in. "The bug was found? They know that we're onto them? Naruto-san! Why didn't you tell us that earlier? What if they've changed their plans since they know we're listening?" Shikamaru lifted his head from the table before promptly dropping it into his hands.
"I doubt they'll have done that. They have too much invested into this plan, right? And if they have partners in the other villages, they won't be able to reschedule. The exams don't happen in Konoha again for a while, so it has to be now," Naruto explained.
Inoichi's mouth twitched up. Naruto's reasoning skills had improved by leaps and bounds during the few months that Inoichi had taught Tsume. Even with everything happening all at once, Inoichi was incredibly proud of Naruto and his ability to withstand the pressure.
"I suppose that makes sense. It's going to make our job more dangerous though," Shikamaru grumbled. "How troublesome."
"Just before the bug was found, Tenten-chan told me that they heard Hyuuga-san talking to another male. Apparently, the guy sounded really old. They were talking about the seating arrangements in the Kage box, so it had to be someone high up in the Hokage's inner circle. Plus, the guy even ordered Hyuuga-san around." Naruto nodded solemnly. "They weren't able to identify the man's voice though because the sound quality wasn't that great."
Inoichi hummed in thought. "There aren't very many people who would have the guts to insult Hyuuga Hiashi. And if the man had the authority to know about the seating arrangements in the Kage box, it would limit the possibilities of who was talking. Have you heard of Mitokado Homura before?"
"I have. He's a part of the Konoha Council, is he not?" Kei commented, flipping open her notebook. "He's been growing restless lately, and sources claim that he has been visiting the clan heads more often than usual. He has claimed that it is to work on the City Council issues though, so it's hard to tell whether or not he's lying." Kei read off the pages before looking up at the other three. "He's a definite possibility since he does have the power and the opportunity to get the information necessary for the rebellion."
"Morino Ibiki is also a possibility," Shikamaru drawled. All heads turned to Shikamaru in surprise.
"Why do you think that, Shikamaru-kun?" Inoichi asked curiously.
"Morino-san gave an extra-credit question at the bottom of the first section of the exam. I solved it, and he reacted oddly to it. I think it was some sort of code, possibly to register genin that were part of the revolution. He said he would contact me, but he never did. He might have found out that I wasn't a part of the rebellion after all and tried to drop me. It's worth considering though. As the head of Torture and Interrogation, he would have the clout needed to get the information," Shikamaru explained with a shrug.
Inoichi looked at the door. If Ibiki really was suspicious, was it a good idea to have their meeting in the T&I headquarters? Inoichi figured that it would be safer than most other places, but he supposed nowhere was really safe now. Not even his own home was safe if their suspicions about Ino proved to be true. "We should be careful about where we meet from now on then," Inoichi said calmly.
"We can't do anything but speculate about who the man in the recording is, but we should be careful around those people. The exam will happen in a few days, so we don't have much time left. I'll report to the Hokage on our findings, and hopefully we'll be able to change the seating arrangements in the box. It can't be good if they know where everyone is sitting." Inoichi stood up from his stool, and the others did the same.
"I'd also advise for you all to be on guard for Orochimaru-san. There hasn't been any sign of him since the second part of the exams, which means he is still out there. He might try to strike during the rebellion while everything is in chaos or he might be a part of it. We don't know, but I just want to let you all know anyways." The trio nodded. This was really going to be it. This was the climax. The entire purpose for their team being formed was going to be played out in the next few days. Now all they could do was wait.
Author's Note: The chuunin exams are restarting again in the next chapter! -cheers- I know it has been a long interlude, but it was also an important one. The rebellion itself will probably happen in two or three chapters from now. I've been sprinkling hints as to the members of the rebellion, so I'm curious to see what you all think. Which ninja do you think are a part of the rebellion and which shinobi nations do you think support them?
Thanks to Pokepikachu1 for betaing me despite the fact that I turned it in late... Again... We should really reconsider my turn in day for this story. I'm always late by a day anyways. -sweatdrop-