Scarlet Justice: Full Blossom – ep. 63
"Seams"
[Discovery, Part 3]

There are more than enough stories to tell.

I made sure to write several things down in case I forgot, but it wasn't necessary. I recite every story that I heard from Hiruzen, from Kakashi and even Itachi. The old legends gathered up from every corner of the village, the little anecdotes about Kushina that might have been lost to time otherwise. I gathered everything up into my head, and kept it there for the moment where I would tell Naruto everything. The day came much sooner than expected, but it came. And thankfully, I was ready for it.

He hangs on my every word, eager to learn about his parents, about the history that was kept from him in order to ensure his safety. After all of that, anyone would want to know what his feelings really were.

"I get it, really. I mean, it really sucked...but after you explained everything to me, I understood what was going on and everything. Gramps was just trying to help me, and I probably would have let things go to my head if I knew, all the stuff about people wanting to kill me aside. I mean, you see how Konohamaru gets on sometimes." We lie in the grass together on this warm afternoon, letting the breeze wind past us. This quiet little area has been perfect for relaxation, more than I realized at first.

"Yes, that's true."

"We're a lot alike. Of course, I don't tell him that. He's learning the Rasengan, too. Coming along pretty well!"

"You're teaching him?" I ask.

"Yeah, he kept bothering me about it, so I decided why not. It's a pretty good jutsu for anyone to learn, you know?"

"It might be the case. If every shinobi could gain the control and discipline to make even a small one, it would provide a sizable boost to their abilities. Of course, since they can't casually conjure Shadow Clones out of thin air, they would have to do it manually with one hand."

"That's true." Naruto pats his stomach. "Guess it's thanks to this guy here."

"Not entirely. With Kushina as an Uzumaki, and Minato born with a large chakra capacity of his own, you were almost guaranteed to have the level of chakra needed in order to house one half of the Nine-Tails. With your chakra blending together, it's simply an increase in available chakra and a widening of your already large supply."

"Oh."

"You already have more chakra than most people as you are, what's boosted is the recovery speed and potency. And given how reckless you are, having a second battery of sorts is a great boon."

"Reckless, eh."

"You waste chakra like nobles waste food."

"Okay, that's way too far."

"Is it? Jiraiya's certainly done wonders for you, but you still have a ways to go before you can match up to someone like me."

"Yeah, well...I wasn't born as talented as you or Dad." He crosses his arms in thought. "But I can't really complain about that, can I. I'll figure things out for myself. So you think Pervy Sage will teach me about that Sage thing?"

"The Sage Techniques. I suppose he will in time, when he thinks you're ready. As much as I don't like dealing with him, I can trust his judgement when it comes to these things. He cares about you, and wouldn't want to let your parents down."

"Yeah, that's true. So I can tell him about what I found out?"

"If you choose, love."

"Okay! He'll be...oh." He frowns and looks at me. "Did...you tell him you were doing this before we left?"

"No. I hinted at it to the old man, but this decision was entirely mine."

"You're not going to get in trouble?"

"I don't care if I do."

"You totally should, Lili," he says, looking over to me with worry. "What if you get put in jail or something, and have to share a toilet with other girls? And, and eat bad, lumpy food!"

I laugh lightly. "I appreciate your concern, but I think I would get a stern talking to at worst. I doubt that anything serious will happen. Don't worry, I took many things into account when I decided to do this. Even so...I'd suffer any amount of lumpy porridge for you, Naruto."

"Lili..." He sniffles and wipes away his tears. "You're such a good friend."

"You know, things like this make you that much easier to bully."

"You never stop with that."

"I've told you many times before. It's an art."

"Yeah, yeah." He puts his hands behind his head. "Anyways, what else are you holding back from me?"

"The true identity of the masked man and some things about your tenant. That's all."

"And you're not gonna tell me about either."

"The latter should be fine, the former I'm holding in my pocket because it will lead you to doing something reckless. More reckless than usual, I mean. You'll know about it when you need to." This much is better than lying to him, certainly.

"And you're not worried that I'll ask around?"

"No. Everyone in our circle who knows about this is authorized to tell you what they think you need to know, whenever they so choose. I've already taken these things into account, as usual."

"Guess we'll see about that."

"It's for your own safety, as much as you might not want to hear it again. When the promised time arrives, you'll know everything you need to know. I'll tell you about the Nine-Tails soon, as I said."

"Alright. I think I can live with it, for now."

"Thank you. Did we have anything that we wanted to take care of before heading back?"

"Nothing that I can think of. We did pretty good!"

"We did, indeed." I sigh and look up into the clouds. "I want to stay a bit longer. I've said this to myself before, but I understand why Shikamaru likes doing this so often. Still a slacker, but..."

"Yeah, that's true. It's nice just getting to hang out like this. Just can't do it forever."

"Mm-hm."

We take a few more hours to relax before packing up in the evening. The trip back to the village is made without incident, and I give Naruto a long hug before we part ways. There's nothing else to be done from here.

"Let's see what the future brings. At that point, I'll know just how to deal with you, Kurama. I know you've been listening all of this time."

If Naruto could help me overcome the darkness in my heart, then the two of us together can make another miracle happen. I'm sure of it.

"Good work, everyone. Another successful outing."

The three of us as Team Kobayashi return home, victorious yet again. It's been a week of missions, four of them to be exact. Two A-Ranks and two B-Ranks to finish things off, the last being yesterday. We walk the home stretch towards the Leaf Village entrance.

"It's rare that we see any trouble these days," Shino says to Hina. "It makes sense, seeing as we are an elite unit."

"Well, the missions don't often get too much harder than these, clandestine types aside. And we have the advantage of identifying targets from a good distance thanks to our unique abilities," she replies.

"Perhaps we should request that our missions are exclusively of a higher rank from now on."

"I wonder about that. Lili, what do you think?"

"If that's the case, we're doing A and S-Ranks," I say while looking over my shoulder. "Might as well save everyone some time."

"I think that Shino was worried about us being stuck doing busywork, so to speak."

"Busywork. I never liked that term for what we end up doing," I grumble. "Every assignment has meaning, even if it doesn't seem like it to most people. The small things need doing with how the economy works, and it will remain that way until some kind of major change happens."

"I suppose I should get out of the habit of using that turn of phrase," Hina says.

"It would be a good idea. Plenty of danger in reinforcing the roles assigned to us by the hierarchy. Though I'm sure Lord Hokage and his predecessors meant this distribution of jobs for the greater good, this sort of stratification is frequently abused by elder statesmen and direct superiors."

"I hadn't thought about it that way, not that deeply at least. I suppose being assigned lower ranked missions as punishment degrades their status in the view of shinobi, and gives them the perception of being lesser in value. That of course informs the attitudes of the smaller clients...I think I see now."

"Did you figure something out?" Shino asks her.

"Yes! I truly did learn something today from our conversation," Hina says happily. "It's as Kurenai said to us many times before, there is no shame in making a mistake or being wrong. What matters is how we choose to respond."

"You're right. Perhaps I should have a discussion with Father on the ossification of shinobi attitudes and the like."

"Maybe you should also have him seek more funding for insect research," I suggest. "Oyaji wants to expand some of the budget in that direction from what I've been hearing."

"That's a good idea, Boss. I'll bring it up later."

"Glad I could help."

As we near the front gate, there are a few shinobi lined up in front of it. I have to wonder if they're waiting for us in particular.

"That looks unusual," Hina says. "Do you have any idea what's happening, Lili?"

"I have a hunch. Follow whatever orders they give us, and we'll deal with everything as it comes."

"Understood."

"Got it, Boss."

The shinobi move so that they're directly in front of us as we approach, so that answers the first set of questions. We stop a safe distance across from each other.

"Colonel Lilith Kobayashi, your presence has been requested by the Lord Jiraiya and Lord Hokage. We ask that you come with us immediately," one says curtly.

"Fine. Give me a moment." I turn to Hina and Shino. "Some predictable business has come up, so there's nothing to worry about. I'll talk to you about it later on."

"It has to do with Naruto, doesn't it?" Hina asks.

"Exactly that."

"Well, since there's nothing too serious...try to use a lighter hand this time, at least."

"I'll try."

"That's good enough, I suppose." She kisses me on the cheek. "I'll be at home the rest of the day after a quick stop, so call me when you can. Shino, let's go and see our sensei before we go home and rest."

"Alright. I'll see you later, Boss."

"Take care, you two." The shinobi quickly step aside for Hina and Shino, then get back into formation to face me. "Are we on edge today? Mysterious, if so."

"We would prefer it if you were cooperative, Colonel Kobayashi," the leader says.

"You would, yes." I flip some of my hair backwards with one hand. "But it would have been far more polite if you didn't treat me like a criminal who was going to flee at the sight of you."

"We're here on orders, ma'am. To ensure that you arrived as promptly as possible." His tone is a bit apologetic, so at least he knows his place. Good enough for me.

"Understood. Please lead the way." My escort nods and turns to take off, with me following and the rest of the entourage trailing. I could be a nuisance and ask more pointed questions, but I figure these fellows are under enough pressure as it is. We head to the Hokage's Office and towards his working space, where the doors are already open.

Jiraiya is waiting next to Hiruzen's desk, with the man himself preparing his pipe. Tamaki is gathering up papers on the other side and giving Jiraiya a very piercing look.

"Lord Hokage, I will be taking care of some very important business outside of the office for a while. Imari will also be busy, but available if you have any urgent matters to be attended to."

"Understood. I will see you later, Tamaki."

She bows and starts on her way. The door closes behind us, and I set down my backpack in front of the desk.

"Let's not make this too difficult, alright?" Jiraiya says gruffly. "I've got the other senior citizens on standby if you decide that you don't want to be cooperative."

"You should have brought them here, in order to save yourself some time. One of my favourite pastimes is causing you additional grief," I say as I lean back on the desk and look at him.

"I would appreciate it if you both calmed somewhat, and allowed us to get to the main subject of this meeting," Hiruzen says after lighting his pipe. Smoke rises into the air as he takes a few quick puffs. "Jiraiya, you said this was a very serious matter and rushed here from a prior engagement. Lili, you have just come back from a series of missions. Both of you must be tired, and want to get things over with as quickly as possible."

"You're right about that much," Jiraiya says. "This emergency meeting is regarding Naruto."

"Has something happened?"

"Yeah, something really big. Something that could have resulted in catastrophe if even one thing went wrong. From the recent conversations we've been having, it seems that Naruto has been informed about his parentage. Somehow," he says pointedly.

"I see. This early, then?"

"This...huh? Sensei, what are you saying? Did you-"

"I did give Lili tacit approval when she discussed this with me the other day, but I wasn't expecting her to go through with it so soon. So this was during the training for the unique Rasengan, yes? How did that go, by the way?"

"It went splendidly," I say. "Everything came together better and faster than I could have hoped. It was that interaction between us that inspired me to move forward with my intentions. I apologize if I caught you off guard, sir."

"It's not a problem...I would be wrong to scold you for following your instincts, as things can change very quickly and easily in this world of ours. Judging from Naruto's health recently, it seems that there have been no ill effects arising from these revelations."

"Sensei-"

"Jiraiya, let me handle this for now. I'm getting to your part. Lili, please stand and face me."

"Yes, sir." I leave the desk and turn, putting my hands behind my back respectfully.

"I do not have any plans to punish you for what happened, so you should be able to relax on that front. However, for your sake and Jiraiya's, I will go over some of the potential grievances that are in front of us. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Lord Hokage. I took many of these things into account before making my decision, but I understand. I'm ready to listen to everything you and Lord Jiraiya may have for me."

"Thank you. As we in this room know, Naruto is a spirited and energetic child. Changes in his life can cause a great amount of turbulence as a result. Our intentions, while they might seem a bit oppressive at first, were to protect Naruto from both physical and emotional harm from a great deal of angles. That stability becomes even more important considering that he has the Nine-Tails sealed into his body, and the seal used by his father, Minato, was constructed in a way that allowed some of the tailed beast's influence to reach him."

"The Nine-Tails is more than just some passive beast that waits for opportunity to arrive," Jiraiya says. "It also attempts to create those opportunities for itself. If Naruto had been bonded to his tailed beast in the same way that Gaara was, the results of emotional turmoil could visit destruction on the village and the world at any time."

"Our aim was to reveal this information at a time not too much later than this," Hiruzen follows. "Once he had reached adulthood, perhaps. It is information that belongs to him, and would be revealed eventually. But only at a point when we were sure that he could truly control the power of the Nine-Tails inside of him."

"I was thinking at the point that he fully mastered the power of his tailed beast, which we know is possible. Yagura Karatachi of the Mist could do it, and we've heard that Killer Bee and Yugito Nii of the Cloud have around that level of control themselves. The Nine-Tails is that much stronger, of course, so it'll take some extra work."

"One of the persistent worries regarding your reveal of this information, at least on Jiraiya's side, is the effectiveness of contingencies. While we do not wish to look at Naruto as anything less than human, the fact remains that he has a potentially world-ruining power inside of his body, and extreme emotion would be one of the fastest ways to destroy the integrity of the Eight Trigrams Seal."

"Do you mean to ask if I had any means of stopping a full release of the Nine-Tails power, sir?" I ask.

"That, and the worst possibility."

"I understand why these questions are being asked. To start, if all of the other options were exhausted...I would be able to kill Naruto, without hesitation. Loving him as much as I do, I know that the last thing he would want was a ruined world. To have his blood on my hands would cause a deep, inescapable pain...but the alternative would be to allow him to destroy the home that he so loved and wanted to protect, and all of the people in it."

"And you think you could bring yourself to do something like that?" Jiraiya asks. He's being his ornery self, but I know that the question is sincere. He's been in that place himself.

"Yes, sir. I know that I could. I also have a means of steadying...rather, freezing my heart if it should start to waver. The trauma would never be erased, it never could be...but I could hold myself together long enough to do what needed to be done."

He nods, seeming satisfied with that answer.

"Before having to come to that grim task, would you also have the means to seal him away?" Hiruzen asks me.

"Yes. I have come to an understanding of the seal structure, and have put together a few sealing arts for rapid deployment in case of emergency. I also have developed large scale anti-tailed beast measures, and am currently in the process of developing more powerful arts in that vein."

He nods, looking impressed.

"Anti-tailed beast measures? And what might those be?" Jiraiya asks with a brow raised.

"Those are classified for the time being, sir."

He grumbles. "Listen-"

"Jiraiya, it's fine. We won't compel Lili to speak of any secret techniques she has in development. For now, at least. I must admit that I am curious to learn about them at some point."

"Alright, alright. At least tell us how you would stop Naruto before he gets going."

"Do you recall removing a seal from Naruto during the Chuunin Exams?" I ask Jiraiya.

"Yeah, the Five Elements Seal that Orochimaru jammed onto him while they were in the forest."

"Yes. I made use of it once already, during our training session for Wind Release: Rasengan."

"So your plan is to get that seal onto him, using the odd pattern over the even one of the Four Symbols Seals to disrupt the flow of chakra between himself and the Nine Tails. Hmph. I guess that's a decent plan. But how do you plan to-"

"Clone arts would work very well, either as a restraint or a distraction."

"So you know Shadow Clone too, huh."

"Is that satisfactory, Jiraiya?" Hiruzen asks.

He mumbles something and rubs the back of his neck. "For now, I guess. I still don't like that she decided on this unilaterally, and not just because anything could have happened with the Nine-Tails. If the story landed the wrong way, even if it didn't make him flip out...it could have ruined his entire worldview. I don't think I have to explain how important that is for someone who has to live their life as a jinchuuriki."

"I understand," I say.

"We don't mean to come across as harsh or scolding," Hiruzen says. "We simply wanted to express our concerns to you, in order to give you a better picture of the scope of things." And to let Jiraiya vent off some of the steam in his head, but that much doesn't need to be said out loud. None of this is hard to accept.

"I understand your feelings, sir. And that of Lord Jiraiya as well. I simply have my own path to follow. I want to protect him, in many ways. I won't be moved from my goal."

"We understand that as well, Lili. Whenever you can, you should make an attempt to coordinate events of this nature with Jiraiya, so that you can remain on the same page in the future. Otherwise, you are entirely correct to point out that you have your own ways of caring for Naruto. You have provided him the love and support that neither of us could in our capacities, and you should know that it will always be appreciated."

"What Sensei said," Jiraiya replies.

"Thank you both, for your support and acknowledgement." I bow deeply for both of them.

"Was there anything else, Jiraiya?" Hiruzen asks.

"Nothing that needed to be covered now. I think we're fine, now that Lilith here understands our concerns like you said. I'll deal with your war buddies, Sensei. We don't want them walking around with holes in their throats after a bad encounter."

I roll my eyes a bit at him, and he shakes his head.

"Alright. Then if everything is well, this meeting is adjourned. Jiraiya...please keep your distance from Tamaki next time, for both of our sakes."

"What's that mean?"

"It means that Lord Hokage ends up on the other side of a long and harsh lecture whenever you overstep your boundaries, sir," I answer.

"I'm gonna go before I decide that I'll give you a piece of my mind."

"It'll need to be more than a piece, if you want to get anywhere. Lord Hokage, good morning."

"Good morning, Lady Kobayashi." He gives me a smile and I smile back before picking up my bag. Jiraiya politely holds the door open and I nod to him before walking through.

"Listen. There's one more thing you need to know before you take off."

I look over my shoulder at him. "What might it be?"

Jiraiya reaches into his vest and pulls out a book, then holds it out towards me. "You might recall that I've been writing for a while. This is...I guess what you would call a foundational book for a few of my students, that I wrote a long time ago. Didn't sell very well, which was a bummer."

"You recovered well enough from it," I say as I turn to take it from him. The title is...The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi. A mouthful, certainly. Jiraiya's first book...I suppose he wants me to figure out a few things from it, then?

"Minato and Kushina both enjoyed it. I wondered if it was too low-brow for you, but only for a moment. If you could have fun with the stuff I write now, it shouldn't be beneath your sensibilities."

"You would be correct."

"Yeah. Minato thought it was so good that...he named the kid after the book's main character. I really just made it up on a dime one day, and didn't think it would resonate that much. But Minato...he was a really gutsy guy. Just like I was, a long time ago. But I'm probably holding you up, so I'll take off towards one of my other jobs. I'll see you around, Lilith."

"Yes. Thank you for this, and I'll give it a read tonight before bed."

He gives me a casual thumbs' up. "All I could ask for."

I put the book into my sweater pocket and watch him go down the hall briefly.

"Maybe not completely eye to eye...now, or ever. But I can place value on the trust that you have in me, however small."

Perhaps when the time comes to bring this world to an end, I might even be able to show him mercy. It's possible. Who can say, truly.

"I should head home. I'm hungry and I need to see my Fio."

I make sure my pack is secure, and then make my way out into the village. Time for a well deserved break.