I continued gently rocking the sleeping toddler as I let out a deep breath through my nose. I'll be completely honest, felt like a weight got lifted.
"Siblings, then?" Biwako asked softly, fingers laced together in front of her as she leaned back in her rocking chair.
"And a gaggle of cousins that needed help with their little ones. So yeah, I'm old hat at wrangling the little ones." I gave a soft smile, reminiscing.
"You had a clan?" Hiruzen asked, and I gave a small chuckle, earning a light grumble from the snoozing toddler. Okay buddy, I'll keep it quiet for ya.
"We always joked that it was, but we were just a big family. We had just welcomed a new member into the world when I…died." I whispered.
"I assume that's why you have the…" Biwako motioned to her own neck scar, and I nodded.
"I was twenty-five and was about to head home after work when I got my throat cut…it was bad. I tried to get the man who did it. I drew my gun but couldn't get a shot off. I bled out." I took deep breaths, whispering whilst forcing myself to stay calm for Naruto's sake.
"You carried a weapon, were you law enforcement? Military?"
"Hiruzen has money riding on this one, he thinks you were an assassin." Biwako whispers with a smirk and I can't help a grin growing on my face,
"Waaaay off the mark there, Uncle. I was a gunsmith, instead of kunai and swords, I built…much more advanced, much more dangerous weapons, akin to my flare launcher." I gave a victorious smirk, "I want half, Auntie."
"When you're off duty, Isshi." Biwako wore a smirk that mirrored my own as Hiruzen shook his head, and I could see him wish he could take a puff of his pipe.
"Your designs, those are your trade?" He asks after a moment of thought, and I nodded.
"Technology here is…inconsistent. Radios, computers, binoculars. Chakra has become so ingrained in your culture it's stifled invention. I don't have a lot of chakra. Maybe it's because I've died, maybe my yin/yang balance is out of whack. I don't know." I spoke before conviction filled my chest, "but my family is here. I swore an oath, here. I was brought here for a reason, and by God, I'll even the playing field by whatever means I can."
I carefully stand up, walking over to what I assumed was Naruto's bed and putting the snoozing toddler down, pulling a blanket over the lightly snoring blonde and ruffling his hair gently.
I step back to my chair, settling in and watching as Biwako and Hiruzen share a look. They've been talking about this for a while, it looks like.
Hiruzen exhales through his nose, leaning forward in his chair and lacing his fingers together in front of his face.
"You will refrain from your experiments until the Kumo delegation has left. You will be the only user of your weapons unless I give my explicit permission, your designs are now an A-rank, and should I decide it, an S-rank secret." Hiruzen speaks, matching my gaze, before a grin of mischief grows on his face.
"That being said…what do you need, Isshin?"
I let a grin grow on my face that held a promise of tomfoolery.
"I need a lathe, a drill press, a smelter, and a giant pile of dirt."
You don't need a massive amount of tooling to start up a custom shop. As long as you got the grit and the know-how, quality comes from effort.
I will say this though…no regulations, no restrictions beyond my own morals and capabilities?
Yes, Konohamaru, I am the reason why the Military Police and ANBU have dedicated Firearms and Explosives divisions.
Why do you ask?
"You know these negotiations are a farce, right?" I had asked after we had fallen back into a comfortable silence, earning a snigger from Biwako.
"I told you, dear, even the Genin know it." She teased, leading Hiruzen to give a quiet groan.
"I have ANBU watchers on a 24/7 rotation in addition to an entire clan of MPs on alert, and a very capable nephew with a…what did you call it, a 'shotgun'?"
"Ooji, I'm six."
"No, if my math is correct, you're thirty-one. G-san is twenty-eight, so you have three years on him. I expect a resounding victory in any conflicts, m'boy!"
"Have you been hitting the Soju, Old Man?!"
"And what of it, kiddo?!"
God, grant me strength to deal with this mischievous old man. Please.
—
It was determined to keep my status as a reincarnate between the three of us, at least until I worked up enough nerve to call a family meeting and tell everyone.
So, after the festival, I focused on the mission. I considered telling Nanako, but decided to hold off until after the mission. The majority of the time, I was assigned to shadow a shadow. Fugaku-san had assigned a rather quiet fellow by the name of Kisuke.
Kisuke was a veteran MP, and was in charge of overwatch over the main target: one 'retired' Jonin G.
According to the dossier he's being touted as a pro-peace diplomat with a desire to end the war as soon as possible.
I knew that was bullshit, and so did our intel.
'G is an opportunist, and has been assigned to these negotiations as a punishment detail. His orders are unknown, vigilance recommended.'
Dry reading, but informative enough. Good to know that the Leaf did suspect something, and honestly, with how much security detail they have on this asshole, I don't understand how he was able to try anything in the original timeline, but I'm having a harder and harder time remembering the details of said timeline.
I remember a decent amount, but my mind more and more recently is filled with techniques, ninjutsu, and plans for weaponry. A fault of my own making, I was not a 'super fan' of the source material, and at the time of my passing, I hadn't touched the source material (outside of a few fan works) in years, preferring to focus on learning my trade. Good for transferring some of my skills over, sure, for precognition? A bit of a bottleneck, to say the least.
So, I did my job and dug up as much intel as I possibly could to jog my memory. Much to the chagrin of Nanako, who was still trying to instill a respect of the 'need to know' basis rule.
"Isshin…most chunin aren't this inquisitive." She had groaned, resting her forehead on her cup of tea.
"First you tell me to look underneath the underneath, to follow my instincts, and now you're telling me to trust the system when my gut is telling me the system is fucked?" I shot back, earning a glare.
"….I hate it when you make sense."
—
"I hate the waiting." Yara spoke one evening in November, nestled in beside me during a stakeout of the latest meeting.
"This mission is not normal, my father believes it to be more akin to a paid training pilgrimage." Itachi responded to my other side, sipping on a thermos of coffee.
"Speaking of which, how are y'all's water-walking going?" I asked, earning a few grunts that spoke of pain.
"Damned hot springs…" Yara muttered under her breath before continuing, "I got to a minute and a half yesterday, 'Tachi?"
"Forty-five seconds. My reserves are larger, according to Sensei, making this technique more difficult to master."
"And you don't have your cheating eyes yet, my friend." I teased, earning a light shove and a grin from the Uchiha.
"When I do obtain my sharingan, you'll be the only one on this team without a Kekkei Genkai, Isshin."
"Mama didn't raise no bitch. I can kick ass just fine without no stinkin' Kekkei Genkai." I spoke, crossing my arms over my chest proudly. The meeting was still ongoing, and they usually lasted a few ours, as long as we kept an eye on the folks coming and going, Nanako let us talk.
It was Crane who was the disciplinarian.
"He's jealous." Yara giggled, adjusting her binocs.
"Indeed."
"Fuck the both of youse." I wasn't jealous…Okay maybe a little.
"Buy me dinner first, 'splodey-boy."
"We're six, Isshin."
"Y'all've been spending too much time with Nanako, she's corrupted the both of you." I muttered, earning a pair of chuckles.
"What does that say about you, I wonder? You live with her."
"And I'm the least corrupted Sarutobi you'll ever meet." I gave a huff, "something about the monkey-blood, if I remember right. According to Auntie Biwako, all full blooded Sarutobi's have a habit of being at least a little vulgar."
"I eagerly await seeing you deal with your monkey-blood kicking in, little cousin." Nanako appeared in a puff of smoke, grinning. "It'll be glorious."
"Itachi."
"Yes, Isshin?"
"Is 'Puberty sucks worse for Ninjas' a real thing?"
Yara scoffs, flicking the side of my head,
"You two will have it easy, you're guys." She cuts in, "but yeah, increased chakra flow does lead to more intense transitions into adolescence."
"I hate chakra." I groaned, letting my forehead meet the table, "I hate it so much."
—
Today was the day, we got confirmation that we'd be going home tomorrow. That means that the final treaty signing would be taking place today.
It also means that tonight G was gonna try and pull some shit.
Fate, as it happens, is a bitch.
The first half of the day went fine. Pomp and circumstance, hands shaken, and treaties were signed.
No, it was when the sun went down that things went to shit. I had been assigned to Kisuke again, and take a wild guess to where we were stationed.
The Hyuga district.
Immediately I loaded a red flare into my double barrel and the other with buckshot.
"What's that for?" Kisuke had asked, I didn't answer him. I was too busy screaming internally.
Three hours in, Kisuke came down with some kind of food poisoning, and I knew fate was pulling some bullshit. He called in for a rotation, but his relief never came, and I was left alone. On paper, this would be fine, I'm a Genin, I should be able to handle being an acting MP for a few hours.
It happened at 3:07 AM, and the altercation lasted ten seconds.
I was already twitchy and had tried to call in for support via radio, only to be assured that my supervisor was en route. When I saw a masked figure with a bag over his shoulder hop the wall out of the Hyuuga estate, I launched the flare.
The entire block was bathed in a macabre red glow, and G locked in on my position in an instant.
He threw a kunai and blurred, I barely dodged it, but he appeared in my face a moment later and there was a sudden, stabbing pain in my left side. I clamped my left hand on his wrist, flooding it with chakra so he couldn't tear it out and leave me bleeding to death again.
I refuse. I grip his wrist so hard I feel bone crack, I see his eyes go wide as he finally tries to drop the sack, but I'm already moving.
Grit teeth and rage.
I shoved my shotgun barrel under his fucking chin and pulled the trigger.
—
-Yara POV-
I just wanted to surprise Isshin…a harmless prank.
Then everything went Red and it happened so fast.
The kidnapper, G, the Kumo delegate, the moment he threw the Kunai I was already burning through handsigns.
Shadow Possession, the signature jutsu of the Nara. During the day, it's powerful enough to stop charging elk.
At night…there are stories, warnings, old tales of things that come out of the dark.
The Nara are what came out. We are born in shadow, and we have mastered it. Night, when the world is beneath its own shadow?
We made bears dance.
Isshin gripped G's arm, and I felt the connection take hold.
I was about to call out to Isshin when the thunderclap came.
The connection fails, all I can see through the smoke is Isshin, covered in blood and offal.
His eyes are wild, his chest is heaving with every breath.
And there's a spectre of a woman standing behind him, a snarl on her face as she brandishes a staff.
Sensei arrives a second later.
—
-Nanako POV-
I was sprinting the moment I saw the flare.
When you reach a certain threshold, the world seems to slow down as you move through it, your vision tunnels, and all you hear is the wind rushing by. Tonight was different.
At 3:07:39 AM, I heard two things. The ringing of a bell, and
BKOOM!
Isshin's shotgun. I can see him now, framed in a shower of blood, bone, and brain.
He's not alone. Behind him, a phantom, an angry spirit, an oni, call it whatever you want.
"Auntie Shion…" is what I called her.
