The rough, dark stairs into the even lower level of the bunker didn't seem so discomforting with Kohana leading the way. She exhaled heavily in what Rei assumed was satisfaction when she lit the torches that lined the decorative walls. "They've come a long way," she sighed. "It won't be long now before it'll be completely finished."

The room was no longer empty. A solid stone slab had been erected in the very center of the room, and the floor designs moved outward from it like waves. If she tilted her head, Rei could almost see the shivery lines moving with chakra. The stone was set on a platform, and it really didn't look like anything special. She ran her fingertips over the surface, expecting the same tingling that she felt when she touched the walls or the floor of this incredible room, but there was nothing. "What is this for?" She found herself whispering, as if this place were too sacred for raised voices.

Kohana looked Rei's way and came to stand beside her. "This is our Sealing Stone. Anyone receiving a Seal of any kind can lay on it and be administered to easily." At Rei's skeptical look, she added, "It can absorb small amounts of excess chakra. Too much uncontrolled chakra can be toxic to certain people. It protects those of us performing the Sealing."

"Can you teach me?"

Rei didn't realize exactly how much she wanted to learn something like this, something useful, until the question had escaped her mouth. And she suddenly realized how crushed she'd be if Kohana refused.

Kohana paused for only a moment. "We can always use more Sealing specialists. But first, we need to make sure that you can control that ability of yours."

Shame pricked at Rei's already raw sensibilities. "I don't know anything about it, really. I mean, have you ever heard of someone who can suck away chakra?"

"Not the way you can, no. But that doesn't mean that you can't be trained to control it." Kohana extended one hand, palm up, and the air above her fingers began to shimmer, like the air above an open flame. "Can you see it?"

Rei was tempted to reach out and touch the air, to see if it felt as different as it looked. "I see something."

"Have you always been able to see the flow of chakra?"

Shaking her head vigorously, Rei said, "I've never seen anything like that."

Closing her fingers into a fist, Kohana made the unusual air disappear. "You're a Sensory type, like me. I'd bet that with some specialized training, you'll be able to detect chakra the same way that you can detect the sound of a human voice."

Rei couldn't imagine herself with such skills. "You'll really teach me?"

Kohana's face lit up again with that smile that made Rei feel so warm. "We'll start in the morning."

Kohana was the best teacher that Rei had ever had. She knew that the bar wasn't particularly high, but she'd never spent so much time with someone so skilled who was dedicated to just helping her improve before. Within a month, she was able to suppress her chakra vacuum deep inside her chest, only releasing it when she consciously decided to.

"Think of it like a basic pentagonal Seal," Kohana had told her. "You can create a mental Seal within yourself to keep your own chakra in check. It's just mental, of course. Physical Seals aren't going to work on you."

When she shook hands with Headmaster Iwa and his eyes widened in shock, Rei nearly cried. "Kohana has certainly accomplished something special with you," he had said. "I didn't feel anything out of the ordinary."

When Rei asked Kohana why no one at the orphanage had ever mentioned this strange feeling that she gave others, Kohana's answer was simple. "They probably never noticed. I'm guessing that this ability didn't start to manifest itself until shortly before Niko discovered you. That happens sometimes with Bloodline Limits; manifestation around the onset of puberty."

It was Kohana who explained what Niko Sensei had been pretending to do to her in the barracks. It was Kohana who explained what was going on when Rei's first blood appeared just before her thirteenth birthday and she'd thought she was dying. And it was Kohana who had discovered how to place a Seal on Rei to the foundation's satisfaction.

"She'll have to do it herself," Kohana had announced in the common area of the bunker one morning in early December.

"What?" Headmaster Iwa asked, lifting his head from the folder of data he was scanning. "Do what?"

"Rei will have to put a Seal on herself."

Koichi and Rei had been sitting on the couch across from the table, reviewing a few math problems that Kohana was forcing them to practice, and they both looked up at this statement. "How am I supposed to do that?"

"Well, you remember how you put that mental Seal on your chakra vacuum?" Kohana excitedly took the seat next to the Headmaster, ruffling some of his papers when she propped her arms on the table. "It'll be just like that, but this time, it will be pertaining to all information regarding the foundation and our plans for the Mizukage."

Headmaster Iwa sat back and rubbed his forehead, like he was exhausted. He probably was. "Kohana, how can she understand the delicacy of what this Seal needs to entail? And how in the world are we going to check and see if she's done it right? We don't have access to the kind of mind-reading intelligence that the Leaf does. "

Kohana's enthusiasm didn't fade. "Such easy answers. She's been studying Seals with me for months; she can perform at the level needed for this one. She'll just need to practice before actually applying it to her mind instead of her body."

"How am I supposed to do that?" Rei asked again. She closed the math book and stood from the couch, going over to the table. This was a much more exciting conversation.

"Why don't you practice on one of the new recruits?" Koichi offered. He tossed his book aside too, and when he came to stand next to Rei, she noticed for the hundredth time how much taller he had gotten in the last six months. The top of her head was now level with his chin, and he greatly enjoyed looking down at her.

Headmaster Iwa cocked his head to the side contemplatively. "I don't know about the new recruits, but if it goes wrong, can you undo the damage?" He looked to Kohana.

For the first time, Kohana hesitated. "The psyche is a delicate thing. But… if worse comes to worst and she botches the Seal, I should just be able to remove it."

Rei couldn't believe it. She was going to place a Seal on someone. She was going to do something useful. Then she'd put a Seal on herself. Then she'd be able to go outside again. Then… what? What was the next step?

"I'll have to run it by the council." He swept his loose papers back into some semblance of order and tucked them away in a brown folder. "But you might as well start practicing."

Rei glanced at Koichi. "With who?"

It was at that moment that the door at the top of the stairs that led above ground opened, and Niko Sensei and Utakata descended with brief greetings. Koichi raised his hand. "I volunteer Utakata."

"Whatever it is, I don't want it." Utakata barely spared them a glance before taking a seat on the couch and leaning over to untie his boots. He and Koichi were about the same height now, but there was definitely a noticeable age difference there. Koichi was just starting to look like a teenager really, but at fifteen, Utakata had been at that point for longer than Rei had known him. His long bangs fell away from his perpetually covered eye for half a second as he sat back up and pushed his boots to the side of the couch.

"Well…" Headmaster Iwa regarded Utakata carefully for a moment.

"What's going on?" Niko Sensei asked, sliding off his flak jacket and hanging it on the peg by the stairs that also held Rei, Kohana, and Koichi's vests.

"I was just deciding that Utakata would make an interesting test subject for Rei's Sealing Jutsu." The moment that the last word left the Headmaster's lips, the room virtually erupted.

"Yes!" Koichi bellowed, laughing so hard that he had to lean on the table for support.

"No way!" Utakata shouted at the same time, but he was drowned out by Koichi's noise and Niko Sensei's questions. Rei watched them all with wide eyes until Kohana grinned and came to her side, wrapping her arm around Rei's shoulders.

"Well, now that that's settled, why don't we head down to the Sealing chamber?"