Chapter 8: A nightmare come to life
Have you ever experienced such an amount of panic, so overwhelming and all-consuming, that time starts to slow down?
Thoughts racing incoherently, so fast that you can barely grasp them. Every movement completely unsure and disoriented. There is a burn in your chest, your heart and the air in your lungs setting alight and turning into one big knot.
A single second feels like an eternity and each eternity is precious time wasted on indecision.
For a single second, for one eternity, my mind ran through all the horrible nightmares that had plagued me for years. The 'what if's of all the small things and the big things to go wrong. Disturbing images of my little sister's slaughtered corpse.
I barely noticed my vision going unfocused, the black encroaching. The continuingly prattling Ishigame fading in and out.
The voices were harder to ignore. Their volume seeming to worsen the weight on my chest. The louder they got the harder it was to breath. I wanted to shout at them to shut the fuck up, but no sound would come out when I opened my mouth. And so I could only endure the buzzing filling my ears.
Vague thoughts on panic attacks entered my mind and left just as quickly. That wasn't important.
Important was where I had to go.
Right now.
Using reverse summoning would take too much time. Would have to explain it to Ishigame.
Plan B it was.
Immediately I calmed down somewhat as I had something to hang onto.
The Hiraishin. It wasn't my preferred mode of transport, to put it lightly. I could make it work. While Minato was a genius, I was the better seal master. Not to mention that I had his and Kushina's notes on the subject.
The difficulty of the Hiraishin wasn't the seal but using it effectively. I had no idea how Minato did it. A lot of practice and desensitizing himself most likely.
What you needed for the Hiraishin to work were two seals; one on you and where you want to teleport.
I concentrated on the one in Kushina's place. I didn't stray many about, having never considered them much of an option.
And using it reminded me why.
To its credit, the turtle realm disappeared in less than the blink of an eye and I stood on the roof of Kushina's apartment complex for a second before doubling over and retching.
I forcibly suppressed my gag reflex, my worries confirmed.
It wasn't just the teleportation, the information overload I was on the receiving end of because of my new sensing abilities where… – a lot.
Getting to try out your new sage mode while Kurama's toxic chakra was loose all other Konoha and people were dying by the dozen was definitely not a great experience.
I used the time I needed to get my stomach under control for fiddling with my gravity seals and gathering lightning chakra.
I took off at my best speed, not minding the state I left the roofs under my feet in. My goal was easy to spot.
A huge angry chakra beast, currently out of his own control.
I had almost reached him when he disappeared. A huge explosion shook the earth a distance away a second later.
I didn't stop to look, barely catching a glimpse of Sarutobi out the corner of my eye. Instead, I went to the nearest storage seal.
It had been part of my preparations. If worst came to worst and Kurama was unsealed from Kushina, I needed to have Tailed Beast chakra, preferably Kurama's, on hand to rebalance her system. She was an Uzumaki, the removal of a Tailed Beast was not guaranteed to kill her like it would most others whose chakra network had acclimated to the second source of chakra. Still, with the birth and the chakra she would spend trying to defend her family and home, I would need it.
I transferred a large amount of chakra from a stone on the ground to a sealing scroll at a speed that was verifiably insane for such a delicate seal before speeding towards my sister.
"-let me out! Make a shadow clone!"
The buzzing sound finally turned into words, and I noticed that Isobu had been screaming at me for a while now.
Not having the mind nor the patience to ask, I made a clone and left it behind, eyes focused on the golden chains that had enveloped Kurama.
Debris flying away from the explosion under my feet, it took me another few jumps before I finally caught sight of my sister.
I had scarcely more than a second to take in what was happening in the clearing.
Minato was already halfway through the Reaper Seal. (-idiot-selfless-suicidal-idiot-)
Kushina was in a bad shape, not helped by the fact that she was using her chakra to restrain the Kyuubi rather than healing herself. (-why-imooto-don't-you-know-that-I-need-you)-
Despite her best efforts, Kurama was shaking loose and preparing for a last-ditch attack, directly on the baby bundled up on the ground. (-Kurama-you-are-only-making-things-worse-why-are-you-making-things-worse-)
Immediately, almost instinctually, I focused all of my will on keeping Kurama in check. To my belated surprise, chakra chains raced forth from my back, a vivid sea green.
Chakra chains, they had never come to me naturally. Even when Mito-baa-chan herself had taught me. At best, they were sluggish and heavy, utterly unusable for any kind confrontation.
Now though, they flowed.
But while I would stop Kurama's claws from reaching my nephew, there were still two people standing between the Biju and the baby.
This was one of scenes I remembered best, though through years of nightmares it got recolored and redrawn. From a tragedy to horror. The picture that haunted my sleep.
A single claw piercing first Minato and then Kushina right above their son.
So naturally, I grabbed the nearest suicidal idiot, then the other, dragging them just that bit from where they would have stabbed themselves to death.
Only that I was just that bit too late.
Minato's neck in one hand and my arm around Kushina's waist, I slid to the side, one knee on the ground, just narrowly out of Kurama's way.
I ignored the Hokage's exclamation of surprise in favor of checking on my sister, who let out a cry of pain.
The claw had gotten her in the leg.
Okay, the leg. That was doable. Better than the stomach.
Letting my med-nin training take over, I laid her out on her back.
First, immediate application of a stasis seal.
Second, Diagnosis jutsu.
The findings were … not great. Extreme chakra imbalance. Extreme chakra exhaustion. Physical exhaustion consistent with childbirth. And a big injury.
But for now, the stasis would keep her alive.
Moving away from my sister's unmoving body, I turned back to Minato. I wanted to scream at him, take him by shoulders and shake him until he could think sane thoughts again.
"You're a moron," I said instead. "Lay down next to your son."
"What, Takeshi- I need to complete the seal-," Minato tried to explain.
I cut him off.
"Oh, you did enough sealing. Lay down and shut up while I fix your mess," I snapped at him.
It wasn't fair but fairness was the last thing on my mind.
Instead, I raced through all the possibilities of how to manipulate the Reaper Seal.
My understanding was this; Minato uses the Reaper Seal to separate the Yin and Yang halves of Kurama, sealing the Yin half in himself with an 8-Trigrame seal and the Yang-half into Naruto. Then he lets himself be swallowed by the Reaper to fulfill the deal.
I had taken years to perfect the Jinchuuriki seals, both more relaxed version like mine and more constricting ones for my nephew. And while I had taken a look at the Reaper Seal, I had never thought about modifying it.
Until now. Needs must.
Summoning the Reaper was a very Uzumaki-style seal in that it was conceptual at its core. A soul for a soul. Summoner and target, both locked in an eternal fight far from the Pure World. Mutual condemnation.
The Reaper had already been summoned. They would not leave without a price being paid.
With Naruto laying on a summoned ritual altar, I mirrored that set-up with a second ritual circle centered around Minato, the ghostly mirage hanging ominously over our heads.
"Don't do anything," I warned my brother-in-law, not sparing him a glance beyond making sure that he was positioned in the right spot.
I decided to deal with Kurama first, before my miraculous control of my chakra chains seized and we had a supremely pissed off – and free – chakra beast on our hands. It was surprisingly easy, reigning him in with the chains and binding him. I used the 8-Trigrames as a base and added three seals of three at 120°-degree angles from each other around it.
This was the easy part. This was the part I had been planning for over the course of decades.
The Reaper though. That was more difficult.
It wasn't that the seal was hard to manipulate. It was just hard to predict how the entity would react towards my changes. If I offered it too little now, it could have disastrous consequences. But giving it what it wants wasn't an option.
Shifting from the clam baby to his father on the over side, I began opening Minato's chakra system to the Reaper, letting it draw out parts of his network.
It wouldn't leave without at least part of Minato's chakra. I would have to be careful about how much I syphoned off. Trying to hold the Reaper off from taking it all was quickly proving to be almost impossible. Cutting him out even more so.
My thoughts raced as I struggled to come up with a solution. Maybe Minato had to die? Not really, of course. But if I could temporarily stop his bodily function, like for example his chakra production, then maybe the Reaper would be satisfied?
Running out of options and desperate, I decided to try.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that at some point Minato had fallen unconscious. Something I found myself quite grateful for all of a sudden as I placed a tag with a stasis seal on his heart.
It wasn't a normal one, one that would keep the whole body in a stable condition while others healed it. It only stopped his heart. As soon as the heart stops, the chakra network stops circling chakra. The body still had it, just like the air or water might have chakra, but it would not be that of a living creature anymore.
I held my breath as I looked up at the Reaper, mentally counting the seconds that Minato's brain would be without oxygen.
Some seconds went by, tortuous.
Finally, the Reaper moved. Slowly dragging forth their scythe before the blade came down in a flash-
Two days later I paced back and forth on the roof of the hospital, so filled with nervous energy and anger, I felt like I would blow up on some poor unexpected nurse if I went inside at that moment.
On my hundredth turn I spotted a weirdly behaved version of myself, staring at me warily.
"Where have you been? And why do you look like that?" I questioned Isobu with a raised voice.
He scowled, a weird expression to see on oneself, and crossed his arms.
"I was waiting for you to return to some form of reasonableness," he said in a clipped tone of voice.
"Clearly, I wasn't patient enough."
"Reasonable?!"
It took all my self-control to not screech at him in wordless frustration. Or wring his neck. I sure felt like doing that.
Then the wave of anger that had taken over ebbed and I found myself just hurt.
"How could you expect me to be reasonable?" I asked after a moment of silence.
Isobu looked away and sighed.
"Let's talk about it later."
And with those words he dispelled the clone. That familiar feeling of someone else in the corners of my mind back, I was… - maybe not comforted but at least steadied.
Only then I took note of how much I felt like the world had spun out of control.
Even after I stopped pacing, I stayed on the roof. This time, instead of spiraling I was able to make some sort of plan.
Well, two actually. But which one would come to use would depend on someone else.
When I reentered Kushina's room, it's occupants had more than doubled.
Minato, with little baby Naruto in his arms, had not moved from his spot on the chair beside the bed. It was still startling to see the difference the loss of most of his chakra made.
That had been the price to pay. A crippled chakra network. Crippled to the point that he could not even muster the chakra to activate a seal. While he tried to hide it, I could see that movement too, hurt now.
I was sure he could train himself back to at least Jonin level. He had the determination to do it. With time. Though I expected the hollowness in his eyes had nothing to do with the state of his body or career.
Tsunade had joined. Not unusual, she was Kushina's main doctor after all. She did seem more upset than usual. I could guess it had to do with what likely was the topic at the moment.
Which led me to the other, less welcome, guests.
Sadly, they weren't Rin or Kakashi, who would visit sporadically. The former was busy with the overflowing hospital and the latter still had the emotional range of a teaspoon and could not stand being in the room for more than 30 minutes before awkwardly shunshinning away.
Jiraiya and my least favorite musical act of Konoha. The Raisins.
"Ah, Takeshi-san, it would be good for you to join us!", Sarutobi said in a friendly but solemn tone.
It was subtle but there was a change to how he addressed me. While the Sandaime had more of an idea what it was I did as Sealmaster, in the end I still had been low-key enough for him to just recognize me as one of many.
That had changed the moment I was spotted as a sage. I hadn't been very careful about it, admittedly. An exchange I would have been willing to make anytime. It still rankled.
I did not like the way Danzo was mustering me.
At all.
"It will be announced later today, but I will have to take on the mantel of Hokage again. Rumors of Minato's condition have already gotten out and many civilians are worried."
While he explained, I could barely hold back a derisive snort. I had seen it coming, but nonetheless. As if the source of those rumors wasn't standing directly at Sarutobi's side.
Danzo was careful not to show any satisfaction, but I know he felt it. Minato would have been the end of nearly all his plans. And Sarutobi would give him free reign again, too caught up in everything else.
I didn't know what infuriated me more, the way Sarutobi had casually decided this was the right thing to do, or the way Minato just took it without a fight.
"I'm sorry Minato. But at least this way you have the time and space to concentrate on your and your family's recovery," the Third tried to repackage what was effectively a coupe.
Yay for military dictatorships. The second Minato lost his power was the second they dropped him like a hot potato.
Tsunade seemed as fed up as I was.
"I have a patient to see to, well, multiple actually, even if they don't behave like it," she said, throwing Minato the stink-eye as she not-so covertly threw the old men out of the room.
When the door closed behind them, Tsunade sighed. She walked over to the bed and ran another diagnosis jutsu.
As if it would tell her something different this time.
I crossed my arms and went over to the window.
"Have you had the chance to think about any treatment plans?" I asked.
I could hear her sigh again.
"We'll have to continue with trying to coax her chakra network into reestablishing itself. While the Kyuubi-chakra that you introduced into her system over the hours after the removal, is keeping her alive, its corrosive nature would also eat away at her if we took her out of stasis like this," she explained calmly.
"But it hasn't been working. Her chakra doesn't react to any of our foreign influences. The chances that that changes are basically non-existent," I added quietly.
I knew what this meant. That was why I couldn't look at the bed. Couldn't look at my little sister life-less like this while my mind, my own experience as a med-nin, was telling me that she would never get better.
"We won't give up," Minato stated equally quiet but steadfast.
"And if it takes years. Hell, maybe I'll be recovered too when she wakes up," he laughed wetly.
I didn't have the strength to turn around, to see him cry. And I hated myself for it just a bit.
It was a whole different kind of exhaustion that had a hold on me some days later when I sat in a tree in the park in the early afternoon.
"You're starting awfully early with your pranks, you know?" I dryly informed my newborn nephew as he glugged at me with innocent, big eyes.
"I'm onto you," I said with furrowed brows and pointed at his little face.
Of course, he promptly took the chance to grab onto my finger.
"Well, that one is on me."
The little rascal had been terribly difficult all day. For a change, he wasn't with his dad who had to go to a whole bunch of meetings for the transition between leaders.
Apparently, Naruto disliked that very much.
He had been crying non-stop. So much so that the nurses had thrown me out of Kushina's room. To be fair, I had me frazzled more than I'd like to admit.
For example, I only remembered that I could have put a silencing seal up when we had already entered the park.
Well. Oops.
I traveled through half of Konoha, trying to calm little Naruto down. The new sounds and colors only held him for a bit though. As soon as I sat down, he started crying again.
Until I relocated to a tree.
I sighed and shifted my weight until I was comfortable.
There were still a couple of hours left until Minato was available again. And I sure as hell wasn't going to leave the little one with Jiraiya.
I did my best to not let it show much just half of a day with my nephew had tired me out as I entered the meeting room with the orange bundle in my arms. But maybe I was a touch too relieved when I quickly deposited the little hellion back in his father's care. When I looked up, the Sandaime was chuckling behind his pipe.
I narrowed my eyes at him.
"Respectfully, would you refrain from smoking in the presence of my newborn nephew?" I asked icily.
He blanched, murmuring something that sounded like 'Mito-sama' as he put his pipe away.
Sarutobi cleared his throat.
"Why don't you sit down? There are a few things that have come up that I would like to discuss with you…"
Reluctantly, I acquiesced, sitting down on the next chair, some way from Minato's.
On my other side was Jiraiya. Across from me, the familiar formation of the Raisins.
"Minato has informed us of your situation-," the Sandaime started.
"What situation?" I asked, irritated at his vagueness.
"You becoming a Jinchuuriki," Danzo said bluntly.
A shit.
I turned to Minato, not at all happy. He avoided my gaze.
"As I'm not the reigning Hokage, I can't keep this secret," he explained.
It wasn't that I couldn't understand his reasoning, it just didn't make it feel any less like a betrayal. It reminded me that almost every person in this village had a very different sense of morality and priority.
"Before I can determine how to best use your status with the difficult position Konoha has found itself in, there will have to be examinations of the seal."
At the end, Sarutobi gestured to Jiraiya who nodded.
Oh, this was getting even better.
Not only did he basically just say that he wanted to use me as threat against any villages that would be looking to take advantage of Konoha's weakness, he also wanted my sealwork checked over by his beloved student.
Jiraiya. As if that buffoon knew anything of Uzumaki-style sealing.
I laughed derisively, tuning out Sarutobi's explanations and assurances as I had to stomach Danzo's not so subtle examinations. No doubt, he was thinking on all the ways he could try blackmailing me into doing his bidding.
It had been almost three weeks since the Crush.
Not a word on the attacker, the fight Minato had been in. The only detail that had stuck was that the Kyuubi had Sharingan eyes.
Mutters about how the Uchiha had been behind this, the suspicious looks, the cold shoulders, they had already started.
This fucking village. These fucking people.
This council of old, stuck-up, unreasonably self-assured relics, they were determined to go down a road that would lead them only to regret.
And now they were trying to take me with them.
My last string of patience - it snapped.
I started laughing. It wasn't a happy laugh.
I chuckled as I leaned back in my chair. I threw my head back and massaged my tired eyes with one hand as I tried not to turn deranged.
"Yeah, no," I said.
When I let my hand fall to make eye contact with Sarutobi, he had tensed, probably sensing that he had pushed too far. Though he didn't seem to understand how.
Oh, right. These people still thought I was of the same mind as them.
"Let me explain something to you," I started, ignoring the startled sputtering from Homura at my disrespectfulness.
"The Will of Fire? Never believed in it. Utter bullocks in my opinion. Just some pretty words to make things run more smoothly.
The only, and I mean it; the only thing that I care about is my family. It was for their sake that I put up with a whole lot of bullshit. Now, my grandma is dead, my sister in a coma and my nephew has a target on him the size of the Elemental Nations; -and you have audacity to ask for more?"
I didn't raise my voice. I didn't turn around when Minato tried to get my attention.
Instead, I stood up. Immediately, the room was filled with Anbu, all of them in fighting stance, ready to attack at the slightest sign of aggression.
Oh, and what a sign they'd get.
I popped a clone stashed in Ryuku, knowing Sarutobi would recognize the green markings around my eyes. At the same time, I activated three of my Yin-seals.
Not something I would usually do for a fight, but it allowed me to call upon a massive amount of chakra, so much that you could feel the gravity of the room changing as a slight film of almost translucent green enveloped me.
I could feel them hesitating, the fear of escalation. To my side, I caught Minato's sadness, a resigned sort of grief and only a slight amount of worry as Naruto started to cry.
It almost made me change my mind. Almost.
I placed my hands on the table and leaned forward while maintaining eye contact with Sarutobi.
"How about this; I go out and take care of the people threatening my family. And in the meantime, you take the utmost care of the people I care about. Because if you don't, I may just raze this village to the ground with every single of you hypocrites still in it," I hissed, selling what I knew to be false threats.
I slowly righted myself, my gaze not leaving Sarutobi's grave face.
Then I disappeared.
As soon as my feet touched the ground, I sprawled out on the rock.
I stared at the blue sky as tears streamed out of the corners of my eyes.
The sun was already setting by the time I sat up. I watched the beautiful reflections in the waves as used my sleeves to dry my face.
Reacting to an urging from the back of my mind, I created a shadow clone. I was too tired to react to the fact that I had, again, made a human clone for Isobu as I stared at a much more composed version of myself.
"I could really use my old therapist right about now," I said, commenting basically the first thing that came to mind, my voice still raw from crying.
"We need to talk."
An:
Uff, so glad this chapter is behind me. Basically the emotional low-point of this story. And this is the friendliest version by far, at first I wanted to kill off both Minato and Kushina! Though I wasn't really nice to them either here…
MC leaving the village had been the plan from basically the start (ya know, the traitor thing in the title? Not about Orochimaru) That's why I had him talking about his morals every now and again.
And just to point that out, he is being kind of a dick all chapter, which, I mean, understandable? Which is why Isobu is decidedly not happy with him and mostly absent this chapter. We'll get his side next chapter…