Rozen no Jutsu
A Naruto/Rozen Maiden Crossover by
Nate Grey (xman0123-at-aol-dot-com)
Chapter 2: Uchiha Mediums
Chapter Summary: The Uchiha Clan has a long history with Master Dolls, but not all of it is known or pleasant. And as always with Uchiha, what you think you see, is not always what you get.
The Past
The Sage was not a flawless man, although his imperfections were rarely spoken of. The one sickness he could never cure was his own heartache.
On his deathbed, attended by his sons, he told them one last story.
"When I was young, my mother taught my brother and I how to make dolls. I am sure she did it on a whim, as a way to keep us busy, making our own toys. Ruling took up most of her time, and having us underfoot always annoyed her. She did not expect us to excel in it as we did. My brother and I crafted a pair of twin dolls for her, as a gift. For the only time in my memory, she cried, and kept those dolls with her constantly. That is, until she no longer knew herself, and became something else entirely. When she was gone, and my brother and I had to part ways, we each kept a doll. They then held traces of our mother's essence, and we could use them to stay in contact with each other, no matter how far apart we were. It was a mistake. We knew they were dangerous. We should have sealed them away, as well. But... we were new orphans, by our own hands. We still needed each other, and her. Or felt we did, despite the risks. But you must not take those risks, my sons. You must destroy those dolls. If nothing else, at least destroy the one in my possession."
But for similar reasons as the Sage had, Asura and Indara did not heed the warning. Asura wanted a keepsake of his father, and kept the doll among his most treasured possessions. Naturally, Indara stole it, and while he did eventually reunite the dolls, destroying them was never his plan.
The dolls, made for Kaguya, designed in her image, and imbued with her essence, were lost in history. Or so the story goes. But the one who told it knew better, having made up the lie, after all. The dolls were never lost, so much as they were hiding and watching and waiting.
The story was true. Kirakishou knew it the moment Zetsu first told it to her. She was one of the twin dolls in the story. And Zetsu had witnessed Kaguya's sealing himself. That the Sage and his brother had betrayed their own mother was something that neither of them could accept as reality. But it had happened, and their current forms were the proof. And that truth needed to be reshaped into a new future. One where the Sage and his brother, instead of turning on the woman who birthed them, chose instead to become demons like her. As any good sons would have.
The world, in its current state, was wrong. But it could be set back on the right path. There was only one critical component missing: a worthy medium who could awaken Kirakishou's twin, and draw out the full power of the doll. Zetsu had used all of his resources to find this special person, with no results. There was no one on the planet who carried enough of Kaguya's essence to qualify.
And the moon was out of reach... for now. But when that finally changed, Zetsu was certain: the medium they needed would be there, waiting for the fated reunion with their destined doll.
Whenever possible, Master Dolls were kept within clans or villages, and passed down to relatives, allies, or the next generation.
However, this was often at odds, either with the Sage's will, or more commonly, the wills of the Master Dolls themselves.
Because of Shinku's long association with the Senju, and later the Uzumaki, one might naturally assume that she was the very same Master Doll that had accompanied the First Hokage. And they would have been wrong.
Senju Hashirama's legendary ability to wield Wood Release was certainly due to his own unmatched talents. But his affinity and appreciation for nature drew Suiseiseki to his side, and when he died, she refused to take another Senju as her medium, and vanished without a trace. This was an especially devastating blow to Hashirama's granddaughter Tsunade, who considered Suiseiseki her best friend, and had hoped to continue their friendship as a medium. Only Hashirama's wife Mito had known what to say. "Humans cannot predict the mind of a Rozen Maiden, or the will of their Father, Tsuna. It doesn't mean that Suiseiseki didn't love you. It only means she had to answer the call of her heart."
Likewise, not even Shinku knew that it was not Suigintou who supported Uchiha Madara, but Souseiseki who encouraged his grand dreams, and safeguarded his mind from the decaying madness of the Sharingan for as long as she possibly could. Madara gambled everything on a final battle with Hashirama, including his partnership with Souseiseki. When he was defeated, he could not stand the pity in her eyes, and dissolved their contract over her protests. He could not understand that her concern was for his health, which worsened rapidly the moment they were parted. As Madara had severed his ties to his clan, and in fact then viewed them as enemies, Souseiseki avoided them out of respect for her former medium.
Once they no longer supported rival mediums, the twin dolls were able to reunite and travel together in peace once more.
For a time.
But Souseiseki's desire for a medium she could save only increased, and she was drawn to those that others would see as drowning in darkness.
And Suiseiseki's stubbornness had also increased, as the refusal to take another medium had resulted in being with her twin again.
The mediums had changed the Master Dolls, even if none of them knew it.
Madara lurked the in the shadows of the shinobi world for some time, surviving in secret and gradually developing his ultimate plan for revenge.
It was inevitable that he would meet that Master Doll, living in such a way.
She came to him in the guise of Suigintou. And perhaps, if he had not spent years crafting the same illusion for Souseiseki to fool Shinku, and had he been any other Uchiha, Madara might have been fooled. Instead, he tore the genjutsu away, and found the laughing face of Kirakishou as her vines plunged into his heart.
The name Madara was power, and power always called to Kirakishou.
Suigintou remembered a time before everything had changed.
Those lonely nights, when she had gazed up at the moon from her seat on Matatabi's head, and they had both sang their songs of mourning, hoping their Father could still hear them.
Those passionate days, when she sowed the seeds of war, and gleefully led her Uchiha against Shinku's Senju. They had been inclined to fight already, being humans, but she had ensured the fighting was longer and bloodier.
That fateful moment, when the Uchiha once again brought her the potential mediums for inspection, and the young ones made their offerings. Shisui had impressed with his pledge of loyalty, to put his bond with her even before that of the clan. But only Itachi had done the research, and knew that her medium was wasting away in a hospital bed, because she had taken everything the man could give, and more. So Itachi bit his thumb, and offered her his blood, his essence, his very life. With a smile, she had tasted the blood, not from his offered thumb, but from his startled lips. It was not a gesture of love or fondness, but of possession.
Itachi would never seek to kiss another woman in his lifetime. There was no need to. Who could possibly compare?
Of all the Uchiha who had served her, only Itachi had truly become her servant. He trusted no one else with the care of her carrying case, studied every text that mentioned her Father and chosen mediums, and did not fear the fact that she would outlive him solely because she would drain his life away before he could be killed.
If Suigintou were ever to be capable of loving a man, he would have been Itachi. But she wasn't. And they both knew it. Beyond that, Itachi knew that the way she would show her devotion to him, was by harming him far worse than anyone else. And he was willing. For the village, the clan, and for himself. The uninformed might assume that his desire was to use Suigintou to become Hokage. It was certainly possible, but never once entered his mind.
Being Suigintou's medium, for him, was not about power, or fame, or desire. It was because if she hadn't chosen him, it would have been someone that he loved, and he would have had to watch her burn their life away. And after they were gone, she would still choose him. So it was best this way. He was the sacrifice, the shield, the savior of his clan, even if they were too power-hungry to realize it. They had never seemed to accept that all of her servants died faster than any other mediums, or at least they never connected it to Suigintou. Although, to be fair, those deaths could have been attributed to any number of forbidden jutsu that had emerged within the Uchiha clan. But Itachi knew better.
Suigintou was a wildfire, and she would consume him fully.
Itachi slowly breathed in and out, focusing his chakra into the very center of his body.
His eyes were shut tightly, but he could feel Suigintou's tiny hands on his back, as well as the enormously powerful chakra waiting within them. Chakra that would soon be flowing through him, and if he were unprepared, it would not be a pleasant sensation at all.
The flow was not slow, had not been since Itachi was a child, as it was not in Suigintou's nature to show such mercy beyond a certain point. But as with each medium she had accepted, Itachi's choices were to burn out, or become accustomed to being set ablaze by her power. He hadn't burned out yet.
"That's it," Suigintou whispered approvingly, increasing the flow even more and extending her wings fully. "Good boy, Itachi. Accept all of me."
He did not answer, could not even if he'd wanted to. His teeth were gritted, his blood was boiling within him, and in a few more seconds, he was almost certain that the same blood would begin leaking from somewhere on him.
But then there was a feather-soft kiss on his cheek, the flow ended, and Itachi was amazed to realize he had done it. Suigintou's chakra was swirling within him, surrounding and gradually mixing with his own chakra. Any faster, and he would have exploded. Any slower, and she might have poisoned him, or at least had a similar impact on his body. And no matter how she did it, it hurt, terribly, in the moment. But Suigintou was pain, and solitude, and darkness. Her medium could not be shocked that this was how she did things.
He coughed once, made sure there was no blood (not this time, anyway), and sighed as Suigintou's wings gently folded him into her embrace.
"You have satisfied me once again, Itachi. I may actually be happy with you, one day."
"I eagerly await that day, Suigintou."
"Don't be too eager. It only means I'll mourn you a bit longer than the others."
Itachi turned his head slightly to catch her eyes with his own. "I eagerly await that day, Suigintou," he repeated.
"Flatterer," she sighed, laying her head on his shoulder. "How long will I have to wait, to meet a man who measures up to you? A century?"
"No need to mourn me just yet. I have plenty of life left for you."
She was about to disagree, then paused and lifted her head. "Your brother is coming."
Sure enough, Itachi sensed Sasuke's approach seconds before the boy ran into view. "What is it, Sasuke? You know not to interrupt my medium training."
Sasuke scowled. "But you're only sitting. That's not really training, is it? Can't you train me for a little while?"
Itachi was about to refuse, but Suigintou raised a hand to stop him.
"No need to be so cold, Itachi. I bet he's feeling lonely is all." She leaned forward and smiled in a way that would have inspired dread in Sasuke, if only he'd been mature enough to recognize a superior predator. "Don't worry, Sasuke-chan. I'll play with you."
Young as he was, Sasuke still recognized the honor in being allowed to interact with a Master Doll, and Suigintou in particular rarely ever had patience for those not directly contracted to her. Not even being Itachi's brother would have changed that, so it could only mean that Suigintou approved of Sasuke personally. "Really?!" He bowed his head. "Thank you, Sui-nee!"
"You don't have to do this," Itachi told her.
"I want to," Suigintou replied. "I really, really want to."
And in the next second, a feather as sharp as a blade flew past Sasuke's cheek, drawing a thin line of blood, and causing his eyes to widen.
"You should run," Suigintou advised him lazily, as a storm of feathers rose behind her, and then crashed down where Sasuke had been a second before.
They watched Sasuke run and dodge and attempt to hide for several minutes.
"Why are you doing this?" Itachi asked, equal parts concerned and curious.
"Don't be silly. Sasuke is important to me."
Itachi stared at her in disbelief. "In what way?"
"No need to be jealous. He has potential as a medium, but not for me. However, when you die, I will need someone who will honor your final wishes. Best to make him loyal now. So you can rest assured, I won't kill him."
They had promised her a medium who could weave illusions as easily as he breathed, a man made to be her partner. She had waited eagerly for that day, dreaming of her destined Master.
When they brought the girl before her, she had been confused. The girl had been so ordinary, so... unfit.
But then the boys came to save the girl, and one of them was an Uchiha. At a glance, Kirakishou knew.
This was her destined Master, the perfect medium that she had been waiting for. It didn't matter that the men had lied: he was only a boy, and an unskilled one at that. But it was his incredible potential that attracted Kirakishou to him. She was practically drooling as her white vines slithered out of her case, invisible to human eyes, but real enough all the same.
But the girl, who had no way of seeing the vines, must have either sensed Kirakishou's intent, or somehow guessed at her purpose. With no regard for her own life (for Kirakishou would have quickly strangled or broken anyone who got in her way), she ran forward and shoved the Uchiha away, falling into the grasp of the vines herself.
Kirakishou didn't want her at all. But the vines had been so hungry, and with a warm body in their grasp after so long, Kirakishou could not deny them any longer. So she sank in her teeth and drank deeply of the girl's essence, of her chakra, of her soul.
Over the horrified cries of the girl's teammates, Kirakishou absorbed everything that the girl had been, until there was not even a body left behind. On one hand, Kirakishou was greatly disappointed. The meal had been filling, and yet not what she'd been truly after. On the other hand, Rin had known a great deal about the Uchiha, including his name: Obito. And now that Kirakishou knew of his unstoppable will, of his desire to become powerful, she wanted him even more.
With barely a thought, she killed all of the ninja that had imprisoned her and made false promises to buy her complacency. They had not brought her Obito. Rin had, and for that, Kirakishou was willing to be merciful to the girl's memory: she would not kill Kakashi, even though he insisted on interfering. She had to rip out one of his eyes just to keep him away.
With one of his team dead and the other seriously wounded, Obito's unbending will finally broke. "Please," he whispered. "I'll give you whatever you want. Just don't kill him, too."
He did not know of Kirakishou's promise to Rin, and she had no intention of telling him. She only told him one thing. "Come to me, Obito. Become my one and only Master."
Obito surrendered his body without hesitation, but his will wasn't as broken as Kirakishou had thought. The moment they were one, he ripped out his eye, and used her own vine to implant it in Kakakshi, leaving a bloody imprint of her vine that would scar and remain with Kakashi for the rest of his life.
Kirakishou eventually forgave Obito. Really, it was the only thing he ever demanded of her, and otherwise he had been a great Master. But the fact that she had taken Rin from him was always a point of tension between them. And even though Kirakishou preserved Rin's body within her N-field, and Obito could visit it whenever he liked, it was not the same. So Kirakishou was not surprised at Obito's refusal, when the Sharingan in his remaining eye began to go dark. He would not replace it, would not help her any further than he already had.
Kirakishou could not kill him: without a body, she would be restricted to her N-field, and dependent on humans to bring her another host. And it would be difficult to find a body of such high quality again. Her only choice was to go to Konoha, where, with Obito almost totally blind, they were easily subdued. Kirakishou was sealed away again, but she knew it would not be forever. In a village with so many Uchiha, she was sure to have a worthy master eventually. And she doubted she would even have to wait long, considering the dark intentions of the man entrusted to watch over her.
Master Dolls were rarely ever wrong, when it came to predicting the destined path of a human's heart.
Master Dolls share a curious relationship with their mediums. In ideal situations, they are first introduced when the wielder is young and easily influenced. This is because a Master Doll is no mere tool, but an entity with its own powerful will, demanding respect and obedience. Older wielders are too experienced, too set in their ways to be adaptable enough.
The common misconception is that the Master Doll adapts to the wielder. But it is the wielder who changes the most, in order to fit the demands of their Master Doll.
Without Hinaichigo, Naruto would have grown up never knowing the love of a family. With her, he was never alone, never afraid to be himself, and never ignored.
Without Shinku, Sakura would have clung to the first person willing to mold her, for better or worse. If asked, of course, Shinku would claim she had merely molded Sakura into a model servant. It just so happened that Shinku's definition of a model servant, heavily influenced by her time with Kushina, also made for an excellent kunoichi.
Without Suigintou, Sasuke would have quickly been overcome by his desire for revenge. And while Suigintou did not steer him away from that desire, she kept him focused and loyal... to her. Even that was the best that could be hoped for, under the circumstances. No one could say with certainty what Suigintou's motives were, but she gave every impression of having been content with Itachi as her partner, and to those in the know, his loyalty was ultimately to the Leaf Village.
Sakura had learned very quickly that Shinku was nothing like Hinaichigo. Whether this was a good thing or not was something Sakura had not settled on yet. But the differences were rather obvious.
Hinaichigo didn't walk, so much as she bounced and skipped and ran, or rode on Naruto's head. She was always smiling or laughing, and rarely ever quiet. About the most troubling demand she ever placed on Naruto was her insistence on virtually endless play, when Naruto perhaps should have been training. Then again, chasing a doll that never got tired was fairly effective training for someone who never seemed to get tired himself. Hinaichigo was, quite frankly, the perfect partner for Naruto.
Shinku was a lady. When she did walk, it was with grace and poise. More often, however, she demanded that Sakura carry her, and tended to be stern even when pleased. For the first week of their partnership, she sent Sakura scurrying around the village in search of a particularly elusive type of tea that only seemed to be popular among the very picky, or the very old (and Shinku was technically both). Sakura had been shocked when the Sandaime Hokage personally delivered a few boxes from his own stash. This made more sense once he explained that he had been the one to introduce Shinku to the tea, which Shinku had purposely failed to mention.
Sakura was nervous. Even though she was familiar with her soon-to-be teammates, she understood that this had never been done before. Three Master Dolls in the same team, expected to work together and win. It seemed impossible to her, especially considering the few interactions she'd had with Sasuke and Suigintou so far. While she found Sasuke attractive physically, that was pretty much where the attraction ended. Sasuke had made it very clear that the only things he had time for were revenge and Suigintou. Likewise, Suigintou had made it clear that anyone who wanted to get near her medium needed her approval, and no one had it yet.
Shinku had advised Sakura not to worry about boys. "It is not your job to find a suitable mate, Sakura," she often said. "A boy who is truly worthy of you will approach you first." Sakura wasn't sure how true that was, since Naruto was the only boy that fit that description so far, which Shinku was clearly aware of. And it wasn't even that Sakura didn't like Naruto: she did, very much so, as a friend. As someone who had been friendless for some time, Sakura had no desire to return to that state, so she was unwilling to risk turning her friendship with Naruto into something more, or less. At the same time, she could not bring herself to simply tell Naruto that and crush his dream of being her boyfriend.
Sakura tried not to worry about either of those problems as she and Shinku sat quietly in the empty classroom, awaiting the arrival of their teammates and so far unknown sensei.
The quiet was soon interrupted by a joyous shout of "Hi, Sakura-chan!" And then Sakura had to throw her arms up in order to catch Hinaichigo as she came flying in like an adorable missile. In much, Sakura suspected, the same way Naruto would, if only he were half his size, much cuter, and not afraid of how Shinku would smack him for even thinking about greeting a pair of ladies in such an undignified way.
"Good morning, Hina-chan," Sakura replied, giving the grinning doll a hug. "You two decided to come early, too?"
Hinaichigo pouted cutely and made herself comfortable in Sakura's lap. "No, we didn't! Naru-chan woke me up a whole hour early and said we had to! So mean!"
"And I already let you have strawberry cheesecake for breakfast to make up for that," Naruto reminded her.
"But not the whole thing!" Hinaichigo whined. "Just two slices!"
"And the three cinnamon buns that you begged Hinata for on the way here."
"That wasn't my fault! Hina-chan Number Two always shares her cinnamon buns with me! Because we're soulmates!"
"No, because you always beg and do the big watery eyes, she can never say no to you."
Hinaichigo pouted again and huffed. "Even so! I'm still hungry!"
Naruto rolled his eyes. "Any more than that and you would have wanted to go right back to bed." He paused, a smile blooming on his face as he noticed Sakura watching him. "Good morning, Sakura-chan," he said, taking her hand and placing a soft kiss on the back of it.
Even though Sakura knew that Shinku had trained Naruto to greet a lady that he was familiar with in such a way, it still made Sakura blush every time. Or perhaps it was the way that Naruto always held on a little longer than was necessary with her and no one else. "Good morning, Naruto-kun," Sakura murmured.
Naruto then turned to Shinku, who by then was fairly annoyed at not being greeted at all yet, and showed it by turning her back on him. "You know I could never forget about you, Shinku."
"I'm sure I don't know what you mean," Shinku replied coolly.
Chuckling, Naruto carefully picked Shinku up and embraced her. "You are my mother's will and heart. I couldn't forget you even if I wanted to."
"Don't assume that because you've inherited your father's charm, that you will be so easily forgiven," Shinku huffed, even though she was clearly blushing. Nor did she object when Naruto sat down and placed her in his lap.
"So do any of you know anything about our sensei?" Sakura asked.
"Only a former medium would truly be qualified to teach you," Shinku responded. "Unfortunately, usually a medium only parts with their Rozen Maiden near the end of their life, so there are no surviving ones within the village. Instead, I understand that you will have a series of temporary sensei to instruct you. I assume the hope is that by exposing you to a variety of teaching styles, you will be better prepared for the many challenges that await you."
"Why do we even need a sensei?" Naruto asked. "Couldn't you or Kurama tell us anything we need to know?"
Shinku frowned at him. "I am not sure whether I should be flattered or disgusted that you have reduced us to enormous stores of knowledge, Naruto. Indisposed as he is, I am certain that Kurama would have better things to do with his time, even if he were available. However, if you need to know something that only he can tell you, arrangements will be made. As for me, I am, of course, always available to you, but there are actually some areas where I do not excel. In particular, I believe your first sensei will prove especially useful. I understand that she is the village's foremost expert on genjutsu."
"How very predictable and inaccurate of you, Shinku," said a smug voice that seemed to come from everywhere at once. "Everyone in the know, knows that the Uchiha are the foremost practitioners of genjutsu in this village. That you don't know, means that you have already fallen under our spell."
Shinku smirked. "So you were already here, Suigintou. I thought I smelled something foul." She immediately dove out of Naruto's lap, barely avoiding a volley of black feathers that came from nowhere.
Naruto narrowed his eyes. "Hina-chan, Strawberry Snare!"
Hinaichigo nodded, and a strawberry vine had just begun to emerge from her sleeve when a pale hand seized her arm.
"You finally decided to stop hiding, Suigintou," Shinku noted, frowning at the doll and her medium that had suddenly become visible. "Why is that, Sakura?"
Hearing the 'this is a test' tone in Shinku's voice, Sakura was quick to answer. "Because if you can't target the Master Doll, you must target their medium's chakra. So Hina's only choice was to attack you, Sasuke-kun," Sakura said to Sasuke, who acknowledged her with a slight nod.
"Actually, that's not true," Naruto said. "I was thinking about having her aim at the entire room, so I could get both of them at once."
Suigintou glared at him. "That would be an enormous waste of chakra."
"If you have it to spare, it's a worthwhile investment," Naruto replied, winking at her. "Anyway, I wouldn't want to insult you by making you think I wasn't taking you seriously, nee-sama."
Suigintou pursed her lips, but said nothing. She understood why Naruto felt the need to consider Hinaichigo his sister, but she had never liked the way that Naruto extended that to all Rozen Maidens, at least, all the ones he had any contact with. She had certainly never given him permission, but Shinku had eagerly encouraged it, for the simple implication that Suigintou was the oldest and Naruto should address her as such. In any case, she was glad that Sasuke didn't feel the same way. While he respected the other Rozen Maidens as Suigintou's sisters, he felt no connection to them, beyond the bond of hatred with Kirakishou.
"My first impression," said the black-haired woman who suddenly appeared in the classroom, "is that I am completely out of my depth on this one. But the Hokage wants to make sure that none of you are unprepared for genjutsu, especially under combat conditions, and he selected me to carry out that task." She paused and glanced at Suigintou, who was now perched on Sasuke's back and staring at her with undisguised hostility. "Perhaps I should introduce myself. I am Yuhi Kurenai, and before you ask, no, I am in no way connected to the Uchiha clan, despite what my eyes might suggest. So if that's your issue, you can drop it."
Sasuke chuckled. "It's not that. Suigintou doesn't trust women. She's convinced that one will eventually seduce me and get in the way of our plans."
Kurenai gave him a flat stare. "Trust me, you're not my type."
"Good to know."
"Wouldn't you actually have to be into women for one to seduce you?" Naruto asked loudly.
"I dare you to say that again!" Suigintou screeched, only to have a strawberry bounce off of her forehead.
"Don't you yell at my Naru-chan!" Hinaichigo hollered, tossing another strawberry.
Sakura sighed heavily as feathers and more strawberries began to fly. "This is going to be a long day..."
There was never any question which four-man squad Konoha's Master Dolls would end up in. The whole reason in collecting multiple Master Dolls was to create a unified pair. Of the three still in the village's possession, only Shinku and Hinaichigo had given any sign that they could work well together. Their shared history with the Uzumaki clan had implied as much, and their wielders were friendly enough with each other.
Sasuke had actually requested to be placed with Naruto and Sakura, though not out of any real desire to be with them. From day one, his only purpose was to study them. He wanted to know everything about how other wielders interacted with their Master Dolls, hoping he could discover a common weakness to exploit against Kirakishou. Suigintou, though unhappy with the arrangement, allowed it in the interest of keeping Sasuke safe from Kirakishou. That, and she wanted to be kept aware of the progress that Konoha's other mediums made in their training.
In his time with her, Itachi had learned a great deal about Kirakishou, and nearly all of it was unsettling. Truly, she was a Master Doll destined for suffering. It was no wonder how she came to be so good at sharing it with others.
Their partnership, such as it was, followed a different set of rules. Of course a medium and Master Doll exchanged chakra, as there were benefits for both. But Kirakishou also enjoyed controlling Itachi's body as if it were her own. This was not surprising, as anything resembling her actual physical form was either very advanced genjutsu or a temporary clone. She was a parasite, and Itachi was her host. But in this particular instance, his body was her puppet, and his mind was stored within her N-field.
In some ways, this was a blessing. In that state, he only had to witness the horrors Kirakishou committed with his body if he wished to. But the time was far better spent exploring the N-field, which was as mysterious as it was expansive. Itachi seemed to find a new room every few hours, and he could only visit the same room twice with a great deal of effort, unless permitted by Kirakishou.
The only room she seemed to like him seeing was her treasure room. It housed virtually everything she had ever absorbed into herself. Like Rin and Obito.
They were not dead, exactly, nor were they technically alive. But they could not or would not move, and Kirakishou could still tap into their power, summon them, or even release them, if she wanted to. But even if she had, they would always be hers. They could no longer exist without her. They had become parasites of a parasite, echoes of a ghost who was only an echo herself. They were hers now: only she could call them into the world, and they would do her bidding until she locked them away again.
Itachi had studied them closely, trying to discover a weakness of Kirakishou's that he could exploit. And he had.
Of all the people that Kirakishou had absorbed, only Rin still retained enough of her mind to respond to Itachi. She assumed it was because Kirakishou hadn't really wanted her, but Itachi had dismissed that idea immediately. Surely Rin had not been the first person Kirakishou had consumed for reasons other than desire. There had to be something else, something that made Rin unique among all the other victims. He suspected a rare mix of bloodlines had awarded Rin minimal resistance to Kirakishou's control, but Rin could not recall what clan she came from, and though he was a student of history, Itachi did not recognize the markings on her cheeks, if they symbolized any clan at all.
There is a common misconception: that because the Sage of Six Paths originally sealed the Ten-Tails within himself, that he was giving his blessing of the procedure. This is entirely false. The Sage took such a measure only because he had confidence in his own ability to contain the Ten-Tails, and far less in that of future generations.
It should come as no surprise that the Master Dolls, who carried the Sage's will, did not approve of the process, especially since it was unnessecary in most cases. Among the many abilities they shared, each Master Doll could, with little effort, escort a tailed beast between dimensions. It was also within their power to extract a tailed beast from a human without the person dying, even while maintaining the appearance that the tailed beast had not been removed at all. This was because they could safely act as a filter between the chakra of a tailed beast and a medium.
So if anything, the process of sealing a tailed beast within a human vessel should have only been attempted if a Master Doll was involved. And only then if she was both happily cooperating and had no alternate ideas, neither of which was likely.
The Present
It was supposed to be an easy win, one that would thrust Yamanaka Ino and her clan into the spotlight, where she felt they deserved to be.
She had made it to the chunin exam finals. She had earned the right to be seen by everyone. And no star would shine brighter than Ino's, because she would be the one to bring Gaara, the Kazekage's youngest son, to his knees and force him to submit to her.
The rumor was that Gaara was notoriously weak against genjutsu, and all other forms of mental duress. Practically a sitting duck for a trained Yamanaka, in other words. His physical appearance certainly suggested it, as well. He looked as if he hadn't had a good night's sleep in... ever. Ino almost felt sorry for him.
So when their match began, Ino sprang her trap at once, and entered the unsuspecting Gaara's mind.
There was darkness, as was expected when first entering any person's mind. But this was followed by far more darkness than Ino had ever encountered in anyone else's mind. Either there was nothing in Gaara's head, in which case he was effectively brain dead, or someone had gone to great lengths to protect his mind from invasion.
Finally, there was something, and even that left Ino stumped: a fleeting image of Gaara as a little boy, alone and sobbing as his sand swirled around him, as if trying to pacify him. It seemed to have no impact, although what did work was a pale hand, gently placing a black top hat on Gaara's head. Gaara rubbed away his tears with his fists and looked up into a softly smiling face, stunned by two acts of kindess aimed at him in such a short period. It had never happened before, and he had no idea how to react.
Ino was so distracted that she never realized that she was no longer alone in Gaara's mind, never knew she had come under attack until the blade slashed across her back, blanketing her own mind in a fog of agony. As she fell, Ino caught a brief glimpse of what had to be the biggest pair of gardening shears she had ever seen, gold in color but stained with much rust-colored blood.
"For trespassing in Gaara-sama's mind, I will never forgive you," said a cold voice, and then Ino passed out.
All of which meant Ino and Gaara's match went exactly like this:
Gaara merely stood there.
Ino's body wavered, then slumped lifelessly to the ground, drawing shock from those unfamiliar with her clan.
Gaara frowned at his unresponsive opponent, but still didn't move.
After two minutes with no change, it became clear that something was wrong. Whether Ino had succeeded or failed, she should have long since either forced Gaara to submit or returned to her body. And no one could accuse Gaara of having done anything, since they had seen him do nothing (far more importantly, he actually had done nothing). Finally, the proctor ended the match and declared Gaara the winner. Only then did Gaara surprise everyone in attendance.
"For the offense of infiltrating the mind of the Kazekage's son and attempting to steal classified information, Yamanaka Ino shall remain my prisoner until the conclusion of the exams."
Yet to the crowd's increasing confusion, Gaara simply turned his back on Ino's body and walked away, making no move to take it with him.
Among the spectators, few had noticed the oddly glowing speck within the sand in Gaara's gourd, and only the other mediums and Master Dolls knew exactly what it was.
"We may have a situation," Shinku stated a few minutes later. The moment the match was decided, she had summoned Hinaichigo and Suigintou to her N-field. The few ninja aware of them had always likened the N-fields to top tier genjutsu, personalized for each Master Doll. This was not entirely accurate, although genjutsu was extremely compatible with Master Dolls, and doubly so within many areas of the N-field. If either of Shinku's sisters expected her to express concern about Ino, they were quickly disappointed. "I do not sense Suiseiseki at all."
"This is a problem, why?" Suigintou asked.
"When I last spoke to Souseiseki, she said that Suiseiseki was contracted to a human in an allied village, and that they were together. I assumed she meant the Sand. But only Souseiseki appears to be here at all, and is contracted to the Kazekage's son."
"So you were wrong about the chunin exams being a stage for the Alice Game," Suigintou said. "It cannot officially begin with only four of us here."
"I don't think I was wrong," Shinku disagreed. "With all four of us here certain to meet in battle before the exams end, I can't imagine the remaining three sisters would be able to resist coming here. I think we should assume that Kanaria, Suiseiseki, and Kirakishou will arrive soon, if they are not already here somewhere."
"Kirakishou was the only one ever able to completely mask her presence. If the other two were here, we would know, Shinku."
"You underestimate our sisters and the mediums they may have chosen, Suigintou. Nothing is impossible where ninjutsu is involved. It came from our Father's power, after all."
Chapter 3: Resonance
Akatsuki, the Sound Village, and the last son of Kaguya have come together to form Resonance, an organization that will turn the world on its head. At the heart are three Master Dolls with a united purpose: to set things right, by reviving the best parent for the job.
