Chapter 28: The Caged Bird's Song

AN: As a PSA, always remember to save often. Sometimes Auto-save fails and you lose several days' worth of writing in one poorly-timed Microsoft update. T_T As a side-note I'm switching to alternate week updates so that I'm not putting quite so much writing into each weekend...

This was a bad idea.

A terrible idea.

There was no possible way they would agree to this. But I still reached up and knocked on the door. I'd been in the Akatsuki base for almost seven months. Seven months! And in that time my workload at the hospital hadn't decreased in the slightest. I was still healing people for eighteen hours every day, and because of that, I hadn't accomplished anything else. I thought, perhaps, that this might have been the point. By keeping me busy in the hospital, Obito and Pein didn't have to worry about me causing any problems. So suggesting a solution would likely only backfire. But before I could change my mind and flee, Konan opened the door. I was acutely aware of both her and the other burning chakra presence nearby. Pein's chakra was too large and too bright. Like the sun but without the warmth and reassurance of light.

"What brings you here?" Konan asked, her face neutral and searching.

An understandable question. This was the first time I'd ever willingly approached them.

"U-um, hello, Konan-sama," I said. Okay, no time for pleasantries. I'd just have to make my proposal, get rejected, and get out of here. "I, um, I have an idea for a h-healing technique that I think would be able to help more people, but I w-wanted to get permission if you, um, if you have some time. But I can, um, come back later if you're busy…"

Privately, I hoped that she was, in fact, terribly busy for the foreseeable future.

But my hopes were dashed when she stepped aside and opened the door further, allowing me to enter. Inside was a simple room with two chairs and a table set with a kettle and a pair of cups. A quick glance around revealed that Pein was not inside. But there was a large open window dominating one wall, and I could feel his chakra just out of sight, likely surveying the village from a balcony.

"Please sit," said Konan, taking one chair and gesturing to the other. I hesitated because…

Because that chair was infused with chakra. Pein's chakra. It wasn't a jutsu or seal. Like the bed in Itachi's room, it was simply marked by the chakra of the person who used it.

That was Pein's chair.

But there was nowhere else to sit, so I perched delicately on the very edge of the seat, ready to leap up if Pein made even the slightest indication that he might be returning inside. No doubt he was perfectly able to hear us, but he had not moved since my arrival.

Konan poured me a cup of tea and sat back, a clear invitation.

"Um, first I wanted to thank you for everything you've already given me," I said, because I was here to ask for help, and I didn't want to sound ungrateful. "I've been able to heal so many people. But I still have more patients than I can handle. Most don't need much, just a bit of healing chakra, so I came up with a technique and, um, a seal that would allow me to heal up to 1000 people at once."

Konan quirked an eyebrow, her only indication of surprise.

"An ambitious undertaking," she said. "What exactly is this technique?"

"I've managed to create a healing nexus that seeks out and attaches to a patient's chakra system," I explained. "It then acts as a filter, converting their chakra into healing chakra over a period of 30 minutes. For people seeking minor healing of, oh, anything less than a broken bone, this should be enough to heal them completely."

In a way, it did what Karin's body did naturally, which was where I'd gotten the idea.

"I see," said Konan. "And you have sufficient chakra to heal 1000 people at once?"

"Yes," I said without hesitation. "Since the technique relies primarily on using the patient's chakra, the chakra cost for me is fairly small. Also, I'm half-Uzumaki, so I naturally have above-average chakra reserves, and it's easier for me to expand them."

And so I had. Normally ninja trained their reserves through physical conditioning and meditation, but there was another method: intense chakra usage. When a ninja repeatedly drained their chakra to near exhaustion, it expanded their reserves. Normally this was an ill-advised training method because it practically guaranteed chakra poisoning. But that wasn't really a risk for me, was it? For the past seven months I'd worked eighteen hour days healing patients, and that had been enough to increase my chakra capacity several times over. I was easily at high jounin level already. Not only would I be able to heal 1000 people, I'd still have enough chakra left over to work at the hospital for a normal day shift.

Konan gave me a considering look.

"And the seal?" she asked.

Ah, yes, this was the dangerous part.

"The healing nexus cannot travel far and it needs to be powered by me for the duration of the healing process, so I made this," I said. I held up a scroll and unfurled it to show Konan the seal. "I've created a parent-seal with 1000 nodes. It will allow me to create a single healing nexus, which will then be divided and stored equally among the associated child-seals. It also includes a relay function. If the nexus doesn't latch onto anything, the child-seal will close, thus allowing me to direct more chakra to the other child-seals. And when I'm no longer powering the healing nexus with medical chakra, it will harmlessly dissolve in a few seconds. But, um, the only way to connect the parent-seal to the child-seals is by using…the Hiraishin."

There was a long beat of silence.

"The Hiraishin," Konan echoed, painfully neutral. "Your teleportation technique."

I did not wince.

"Yes, the Hiraishin allows me to teleport chakra," I said. I needed to make it very clear that I would not be teleporting myself. That was the important takeaway. "If I can give the child-seals to all of my patients who suffer from minor chronic conditions, it would cut the number of people seeking treatment in the hospital by about 80%. The only things I would send are the healing nexus and medical chakra."

Konan set down her cup.

"So you're requesting permission to place the corresponding child-seals on your patients?" she asked.

As if they'd ever consider it.

"No, that would be impractical," I said. "I'd put the seal on pieces of paper and distribute them to anyone that needs healing. Not every person needs healing every day. Most only need healing about once every three weeks, so a single piece of paper can be shared by multiple people. It's not a total replacement for the hospital, of course, but anyone suffering from something serious can come to see me in person."

It was an impossible request, not least because I was literally asking for the chance to create a seal network in an enemy village.

There was no possible way Konan would agree to—

"An interesting proposal," said Konan. "When Itachi came to us and spoke of your abilities, I admit I had my doubts. But it seems that your reputation is well earned."

I shifted uncomfortably. It was praise, sure, but it was also very deliberate praise.

"Thank you," I mumbled. "I just want to help people."

"And you have," she said. "Using methods I would not have believed possible. Chakra healing typically worsens chakra poisoning, and yet Itachi is healed."

It wasn't a question, but her pointed silence invited justification.

"...Yes, under normal circumstances chakra healing only exacerbates injuries from chakra poisoning," I said slowly. Why was she asking about Itachi's chakra poisoning now? "But the aggravation is caused by impurities in healing chakra. I've trained my chakra to become 100% pure medical chakra, which can mend damaged areas without harming them further."

I wasn't sure how much Konan knew about chakra healing. Enough to realize that my technique was unusual, at least.

"Is 100% purity common among medics?" Konan asked.

In other words, if something happened to me, could I be easily replaced? I didn't like where this conversation was headed. But I could see why she wanted to know. If it turned out that I was using the seals for some nefarious purpose, they'd have to deal with me. And if they had to deal with me, they'd need a replacement. It wasn't like Itachi was cured forever. As long as he remained on active duty, he'd need periodic treatments.

"…No," I said. "Most have between 75-95% purity, which would still cause aggravation when treating chakra poisoning. The only other certified medic with 100% purity is Tsunade-sama."

I carefully did not mention Karin. The last thing she needed was a Pein-level threat hunting her down for her chakra. And if anyone asked, I could always say that she wasn't actually a certified medic.

"I see," said Konan with only a flicker of disappointment. "You say that your seal is only for minor injuries. Would it be able to heal chakra poisoning?"

"Um, yes, at least somewhat depending on the severity," I said. "But I wouldn't give this to Onii-chan. Or any active-duty shinobi. It works by taking the patient's chakra and converting it to healing chakra, so it would disrupt any technique they were trying to use. That makes it too dangerous to take into the field."

Konan nodded.

"I see," she said. She paused, taking another sip of tea before continuing. "Leave the scroll. For now, I will speak with God, and I will let you know his decision."

"Thank you, Konan-sama," I said.

It wasn't a yes, but it wasn't a no either. That was already more than I'd expected. The moment Konan gestured to the door, I fled.

Outside, Pein's chakra stirred.

A few days later Konan summoned me back to her room where I found a table piled with 1000 pieces of Konan's special chakra-enhanced paper. Apparently Pein had given me permission to begin work under Konan's watchful eye. So I sat down at the table and Konan removed the space-time suppression manacle, setting it aside for the first time since my arrival in Ame. She didn't bother with threats, but we both knew that she didn't need them.

I began placing the newly modified Hiraishin formulas on each piece of paper, mapping them to nodes on the parent-seal. Privately, I could not believe that they had agreed to this. But they obviously believed that Itachi's torture was keeping me in line. I wasn't about to correct that assumption. As I worked, Konan made a few suggestions for handling the seal. One was tracking seal distribution between patients to prevent the seals from being lost. That sounded like a lot of work, but Konan offered to take over responsibility for it, so I readily agreed and began marking the child-seals with corresponding numbers.

To my amusement, when I finished placing the final jutsu formula, Konan used chakra to shape each of the 1000 pieces of marked paper into origami cranes. There was a legend about someone folding 1000 origami cranes and being granted a wish, and 1000 cranes were often given as a gift to people who were very ill, so I supposed it was thematic. Or maybe she just really liked origami and was looking for an excuse.

Konan then gathered together a group of volunteers to help with the trial runs. We wanted to ensure that the healing nexus was divided properly among the child seals, so we ran though a battery of tests. Everything went about as well as expected, but the patients were so nervous that I decided to add Positive Intent to the ritual to soothe their fear. It worked startlingly well, and I received plenty of compliments and looks of awe. I made a mental note to consider using Positive Intent in therapy since it really did work wonders.

Konan also suggested using some sort of cue to indicate that the seal was active so that patients would know when the healing was about to start and when it was over. That way they would know when to stand next to the seal and when they were done for the day. After considering it for a minute, I suggested using an audio cue. I could play a shamisen, the same type of stringed instrument I'd learned all those years ago in kunoichi class. Playing an instrument wouldn't require any chakra and I could do it without losing focus on my main task of maintaining the healing nexus.

It was actually nice to collaborate on a project like this. I was used to figuring things out on my own, but having input from another person allowed me to consider the problem from a different perspective. I certainly felt more confident in the final technique. Once we had the remaining details worked out, Konan spent a day distributing the seals, informing everyone that I would perform a thirty minute healing session each morning for those who needed it.

Finally everything was ready to go.

At dawn, I came up to the room and knelt in the center of the parent-seal on the floor. I closed my eyes and tried very hard to ignore Konan and Pein, who were sitting in their respective chairs and watching me. I activated the seal and strummed on my borrowed shamisen. I then carefully, carefully formed the healing nexus. It hung in the air before me as a massive glowing ball of white chakra. I examined it thoroughly to ensure purity and then pushed it through the seal. It divided cleanly to fill each of the 1000 nodes. Then I performed the Hiraishin, sending each nexus to the corresponding child-seal. Unlike the normal Hiraishin, which was instantaneous teleportation, the parent-seal allowed me to maintain a constant connection through the child-seals, almost like a wormhole. This allowed me to power the healing nexus, project Positive Intent, and even send the sound waves from the shamisen.

I waited a beat, watching the parent-seal as I continued to strum the instrument. 999 of the seals remained open, indicating that each nexus had found its patient, while the remaining 1 closed. The closed seal was from the crane sitting on a nearby table. Konan had wanted to observe the healing nexus passing through the seal. It had fizzled out, as none of us were close enough for it to find purchase.

Good start.

And so I began to feed healing chakra and Positive Intent into the seal, powering each healing nexus and soothing my patients. I continued like this uninterrupted for the full half-hour. All the while Konan and Pein watched me in silence. When the healing session was over, my hands stilled on the instrument and I cut the power to the seal. The remaining 999 seals closed. I let out a breath of relief.

"U-um, I'm done," I said into the heavy quiet of the room.

Pein's eyes flicked to Konan, who nodded. She stood and returned the space-time suppression manacle to my wrist.

"You will return each morning at the same time to perform your healing," said Pein, standing. "The seal will remain here, and you will never activate it without Konan or I present. Do you understand?"

I nodded meekly.

"Yes, Pein-sama," I said.

He dismissed me, and I hurried away.

The morning healing rituals continued. Each time, Konan removed my space-time suppression manacle at the beginning and dutifully returned it at the end. I had hoped, perhaps a little naively, that they would do away with this manacle like they had with the other one. Unfortunately, they were not so careless. After the first week or so, Pein no longer felt the need to oversee the process personally, instead allowing Konan to monitor me while he went off somewhere to do Pein-things.

As expected, the hospital saw a drop of 80% attendance. I went from drowning in 18 hour days to about two hours of scheduled surgery and another four hours of standard consultations. I actually went to sleep at a reasonable hour, and it was exactly as glorious as I was hoping. I even had time to return to my daily kata, which was good because I had gotten a little rusty after seven months without training.

Even the seal-healing ritual was relaxing since I spent most of the time simply playing music while channeling Positive Intent and healing chakra. As I strummed the shamisen, I had time to think. And wonder. I wondered how everyone was doing. By now Naruto must be on his training trip with Jiraiya, and Kakashi was probably taking missions again. And Sasuke was…well.

But what about Karin and Haku? Itachi hadn't mentioned them at all, which probably meant that they were fine. They were both friendly with Naruto, so I was sure he'd vouch for them with Tsunade. She would make sure that Danzo didn't do anything to them. It was a comforting thought, even if I would have preferred to know for certain. But I didn't dare ask. I didn't want Itachi to return to Konoha for my sake. It was too dangerous. And asking anyone else risked drawing unwanted attention from the Akatsuki. So I'd just have to trust that Naruto and Tsunade were looking after them while I was away.

I plucked the final notes on the shamisen and allowed the seals to close, ending the ritual. I frowned at the seal array.

"Konan-sama, you have a list of which seal belongs to which person, right?" I asked.

Konan looked up from the reports she was reading at the desk.

"Yes," she said. "Is there a problem?"

"I'm not sure," I said, gesturing to the array. They were all closed now, but I'd noticed something over the past several weeks. "Too many of them are active."

Konan paused.

"The point of the seal is to be used, is it not?" she asked.

"Yeah, but not this often," I said. "An average patient with chronic health complications should only need healing once every three weeks or so. But there are always at least eight hundred active every day. Some days even have all of them active. Of course, the seals are meant to be given to others who might need them. But still, on average there shouldn't be so many. I'd like to call in a few of the seal recipients to ensure that they're being healed properly. If there's something wrong with the seal…"

Perhaps I was diluting it too much? 1000 seals was a lot…

"That won't be necessary," said Konan, returning to her report. "The seals function as intended. There are, however, unexpected benefits to the healing procedure. Various patients have reported that they no longer experience nightmares after being healed, even if there is no physical injury being mended. The excess uses are caused primarily by those seeking psychological healing rather than physical healing."

Huh, that did make sense. Positive Intent had cured victims of Tsukuyomi, and that was designed to traumatize people. I expected that there were quite a few people in Ame who needed a bit of extra positivity in their lives.

I frowned.

Why hadn't Konan told me? Maybe it just…didn't seem important?

"If they want to prevent nightmares, it would be better to perform the healing in the evening," I said. "Actually, they don't really need healing, do they? I could have a second session in the evening that is just Positive Intent. Um, if you don't mind."

I was already taking time out of her morning schedule, and I didn't want to presume too much. Konan's pen stilled on the paper.

"I will consult with God," she said.

And she left it at that.

"Who owns seal 24?"

It had been two weeks since my last conversation with Konan. Since then my once-daily healing ritual had been followed by a once-evening Positive Intent therapy ritual. As expected, the number of people requiring the morning healing had dropped significantly. Right now, with dawn lazily creeping over the horizon, there was only one seal that had remained active nearly every day since I'd begun.

"What interest do you have in the seal-holder?" Konan asked.

I blinked, slightly confused by the sharpness of her tone.

"Um, I want to check up on them?" I asked, uncertain under her watchful eyes. "If they need healing every day, they have something more serious than the seal can handle. I'll need to bring them in to treat them properly…"

Konan closed her eyes briefly and let out a small sigh.

"…I see," she said. "Very well. Come."

She stood up and made her way to the door.

What, right now?

I scrambled to follow her. Konan led me up yet another set of stairs even higher into the tower, and my curiosity was immediately replaced by anxiety because…

Because this particular section of the base had one use. It was the private apartments for Konan and Pein. I'd never been up this far. No one had, at least as far as I knew. We passed through a large room housing six pods. Five of them contained orange-haired bodies with black piercings and the sixth was empty. Pein was sitting in a throne-like chair regarding Konan and I as we entered. Konan stood before him with only the slightest hint of agitation in her chakra belying the stoic emptiness of her eyes.

"She has requested to meet the seal-holder," said Konan. "To heal them properly."

Pein's Rinnegan eyes swept over me, and my heart skipped a beat.

"Um, I understand if I'm n-not allowed," I squeaked, wilting under his gaze. "It-it's just that s-someone has been using the healing e-every day. And I, um, I wanted to make sure they're alright…"

Because by now I was pretty sure I knew who that 'someone' was. Beyond this room there was an inferno of chakra, stronger even than the Pein sitting in front of me. I hadn't felt it before. This room obviously had chakra-dampening seals to prevent detection. But I could definitely feel him now.

Pein considered me for a long moment. I couldn't quite stop my trembling under his gaze. I wasn't really a sight to inspire confidence.

"Very well," said Pein.

Konan nodded once and led me to an unassuming door behind the throne.

"You will never speak of what you see within this room," said Konan. "Enter."

I glanced between Pein and Konan before stepping inside. The room was dim, but I could make out the standard industrial furnishings common in Ame. Konan made her way to the center of the room where a large metal machine with segmented legs stood in pride of place. I noticed, distantly, that the walker had a small glass inlay containing a single origami crane.

Nagato looked like death.

His features were sunken and his bare chest revealed skin pulled tight across his ribs. There were large metal spikes protruding from his back while smaller metal cylinders pierced his arms. He regarded me with familiar Rinnegan eyes. Behind me, Pein closed the door, cutting off the primary light source and leaving us in semi-darkness.

I steadied my breathing, all too aware of his sickly chakra.

No, not sickly.

Dying.

"Come," he said. Despite his obvious illness, his voice was strong and held no uncertainty. It was a reminder that, no matter how weakened, this man was still the supposed leader of the Akatsuki.

I approached with measured steps and bowed.

"Pein-sama?" I asked because I wasn't supposed to know. Still, it was obvious enough. Nagato nodded.

"Now that you know the identity of your patient, does your offer remain?" he asked.

As if that would make a difference. But obviously he thought that it might. Suddenly their bizarre inclination to accept my remote healing seal made sense. It was so Pein could receive treatment without me knowing about it. That must also be why Konan wanted me to use her paper and why she was the one to track the location of the seals. It might even be the reason Konan hadn't mentioned people using the seal for sleep therapy. If hundreds of people were reusing their seals every day, Nagato's repeated use wouldn't be quite as obvious.

"Y-yes," I said. "I'll, um, I'll need to perform a diagnostic jutsu if that's o-okay…"

I was not willing to risk even the slightest chance that he might misinterpret my diagnostic jutsu as an attack. With both Konan and Pein standing beside me, setting even one toe out of line was as good as suicide.

"Then approach," said Nagato.

I didn't want to.

I really, really didn't want to.

I swallowed and stepped forward, careful not to meet his eyes as I laid my hands across his bare chest. I could almost feel the texture of his bone beneath his paper-thin skin but I'd felt worse in the hospital. I called forth my chakra and began the diagnostic jutsu.

It was difficult.

It felt like trying to perform a jutsu with my neck beneath a sharpened axe. I closed my eyes and focused on my chakra, smoothing out the rough, distressed edges. There was something wrong with his legs, and the rods? I frowned, trying to get a clearer picture.

"Is something wrong?" Konan asked sharply.

I winced.

"U-um, it's difficult to g-get a clear picture when a-a jutsu is being performed," I said.

I made the mistake of looking up at Nagato, his eyes cold and untrusting. Right, what a foolish thing to say…

Nagato cut the power to the rods, and the Pein body went still.

"Continue," said Nagato, and I nodded shakily before sweeping my chakra through his body once again. It was still too rough, too panicked and scattered to perform properly. My hands shook.

I had to calm down.

But how?

I took a deep breath and scraped together a blanket of Positive Intent. I'd used it to heal others spiritually, but this time I turned it inward, wrapping it around my heart and soothing away the terror. My heartrate slowed, and my chakra calmed.

I ran the diagnostic jutsu one more time.

"Oh, so this is why Konan-sama wanted to know how I healed Onii-chan," I said, the quaver banished from my voice and replaced with detached serenity. Wait, did I say that out loud? I needed to focus. Diagnostics only. "You have late onset Stage 4 chakra poisoning concentrated around your vital organs and the rods. Signs of extreme musculature deterioration, particularly around the legs. And indications of repeated infections and vitamin deficiencies."

I cut the diagnostic jutsu and dropped my hands, stepping back. I loosened my hold on the Positive Intent, and it was like waking up from a pleasant dream. Okay…maybe not the best tactic to use when surrounded by S-rank enemies.

I had to balance it out. Enough Positive Intent to remain calm while not actually impairing common sense.

"Stage four?" Konan asked. Her voice was even, but her chakra flickered with apprehension. If she'd done any research at all, she had to realize what that meant. "Can you heal him?"

I didn't answer right away, my mind already working through possible treatment plans.

"I'm not sure," I admitted.

"You were able to heal Itachi," Konan snapped. "This is the same illness, is it not?"

I flinched, the flimsy armor of positivity shattering under her sudden ire.

"…W-Well, no, n-not exactly," I said, glancing at Nagato, who was watching me intently. I took a deep breath and tried again. Okay, too much Positive Intent and I became unfocused. Too little and it shattered. I could do this. Just enough to keep me calm... "Onii-chan has low stamina and strong chakra. This leads to extensive and early-onset damage. It's like a broken bone. It's highly damaging but it's still relatively straightforward to heal. Pein-sama has high stamina and strong chakra. The high stamina lowers the amount of damage received…but in exchange, the body develops around the poisoning. It's like when a broken nose isn't set properly. It heals crooked. Now imagine that…but for his entire body. Over and over again for years and years. These poorly healed injuries accumulate over time until…"

Until nothing could be done.

Stage 4 was usually a death sentence unless the shinobi retired and never used chakra again.

"Your healing nexus was helping him," said Konan. "Wouldn't a stronger dose of healing chakra help him more?"

"Yes," I admitted. "The problem is scale. I was able to heal Onii-chan in twelve eight-hour sessions. Pein-sama would require at least two hundred."

At that point it became resource and perception management problem. If I disappeared for 6 months, the hospital would have to be shut down. Worse, Pein would be absent during that same time period. A missing healer plus an absent Pein wasn't a difficult equation to solve. The last thing he needed was for anyone to know he was sick.

Very, very sick.

"Without treatment, how long until I am no longer able to function?" Nagato asked, surprisingly calm considering the prognosis.

"Your high stamina buys you time," I said. "You likely have four to five years left. Healing sessions would also extend the time."

"By how much?" he asked evenly. "Suppose that you heal me for four hours per day. How much longer can I last?"

"…Indefinitely?" I said. "At four hours per day…you would be fully healed in about a year, maybe a little more. After that, you would only need occasional healing, like Onii-chan."

"Very well," said Nagato. "You will perform a pair of two hour healing session each day, once in the morning after your healing ritual and another in the evening after your therapy ritual. If you are questioned about the extra time spent here, you will say that you are taking breakfast and dinner with Konan and me. If you are prepared, you will begin the first session now."

I nodded.

"Yes, Pein-sama," I said.

I laid my hands on his chest and got to work.

AN2: I've been getting this question a bit more frequently lately, so I thought it was worth addressing in a comment. Yes, Kiyo will eventually grow up and look her own age. However, as Kakashi pointed out in the previous chapter, Kiyo's current age issue isn't entirely outside of her control. She just needs to resolve some of her own issues before she's ready to grow up.

Also in terms of pairings, everyone is either a child or in a child's body, so there's not going to be much beyond the puppy-love we've seen so far, at least not in the story proper. Pairings and romance in the post-canon timeline are fair game, though. For now, instead think of Kiyo as a metaphor for the concept of Peace in the shinobi world. The relationships she has with most other characters mirror that character's relationship with Peace.

A few simplified examples:

Naruto embraces Peace with unconditional love and acceptance.

Sasuke protects Peace through violence, and his relationship with Peace deteriorates as he falls further into darkness.

Itachi openly hurts Peace while secretly trying to care for Peace.

Obito loves the idea of Peace, but he's fully prepared to destroy real Peace in favor of his false Peace.

I hope this helps put things into better context.