Ch. 33

Oh Snap

Moriko groaned from where she was sprawled in the living room of the Uzumaki compound. There was sawdust in her hair and she groaned again as one of her clones hit her with the broom before sweeping the wood chips off Moriko's hair. She sat up with a large sigh as her clones worked to clean up the newly renovated living room and kitchen areas. Her clones shooed her out of the room so they could finish cleaning and she trudged tiredly into the sealing room at the back of the house that was already finished.

She flopped face-first into the tatami floor and groaned. She was so tired from the amount of projects she was juggling right now.

She had made progress with the permeable medical stasis seal and the flying thunder god seal but was nowhere near finished with them.

The Hokage had also had her looking through the forbidden scroll with Jiraiya as a precaution in case Orochimaru had stolen any techniques from the scroll before he had defected. They were working on a way to counter a few of the worst techniques in the scroll, but they were having issues with releasing the souls from the Edo Tensai techniques.

She was still doing supply runs as well to pick up building materials and using her veritable army of clones to place the seals in the hospital.

There had also been the lessons and seals needed by the Anbu HQ but thankfully it had been a fairly painless process in comparison, no one daring to pester her too much.

The invasion plans had also been gone over by her, Jiraiya, and the Hokage several more times as they received new intel from Shadow or made new discoveries with sealing that changed things for them.

At the same time, she had managed to finish the purchase of a couple of shops that lay on the edge of the ninja shopping district and the civilian shopping section for her to sell seals.

The Uzumaki Compound was being renovated by her clones, the materials being gathered and prepared by her clones. Moriko was spending her spare moments sorting through years of storage scroll full of items she had gathered on her travels with Jiraiya. Inside said scrolls she was sorting furniture, textiles, materials, plants, clothing, artwork, instruments, and miscellaneous items into their appropriate categories.

On top of that, Tsunade was hounding her wherever she went trying to push her into the new medical initiative program, making her feel cornered by everything going on.

Whenever she passed staff at the hospital staff she received dirty looks for not joining their programs or giving them her time. At this point she couldn't give a rats ass, having bigger fish to fry but admittedly the attitudes were grating n her nerves.

Now Itachi and Hizashi were trying to take up her limited time whenever they saw her, and the kids were up to something when they weren't pranking her, clearly plotting.

She still needed to put on that musical production the kids had asked for and needed to coordinate with both the Uchiha and Hyuga clans.

She sighed.

Was it any wonder she was splayed out on the floor of her new sealing room face down in the tatami like she could hide from all responsibilities if she pressed her face hard enough into the mat? She just needed a damn break and to be left alone for a while. Like, maybe the rest of the week. Maybe two.

"Oi, Moriko you in here?" Jiraiya called as his heavy footsteps could be heard on the veranda, two other sets of footsteps following. Without moving Moriko went invisible as the shoji door slid open revealing the toad sage, and two Anbu behind him. Jiraiya frowned in surprise at the empty room before sighing.

"I know you're in here," he called, referring to the tracking seal he had put on her. She appeared with a growl of warning causing Wolf to startle, Weasle unsurprised by her invisibility.

"Why are you on the ground?" asked Jiraiya as he moved over to his unmoving student.

"Sensei, no more. I'm serious, leave me alone. I can't handle another thing on my plate right now, leave me alone," she growled, still not moving. He looked up to see the two Anbu staring down at their new charge before he frowned down at his wiped-out student. This was the fourth time in as many days that she had exhausted herself in the past week since the trip to the Nara forest. Maybe they had been piling too much on her plate recently. But they needed to get ready for the invasion, and this bit of news was important.

"What about that performance you wanted-"

"It's delayed! No More! Leave me alone!"

"Now Moriko-"

"NO! I'm leaving for a week! I can't take this anymore! Damn the consequences!" she suddenly snarled as her last fraying nerve seemed to snap with an audible twang, the young woman springing to her feet to march outside barefoot and furious, clothing rumpled and hair a mess. Her teacher jerked back in alarm before sighing as he went to follow, the two Anbu following close behind him.

"Moriko you-"

"No! Enough! You'll get your damn seals as soon as possible but I swear the next-"

"So, this is where you live," Tsunade interrupted as she marched into Moriko's compound courtyard as if she owned it. She yelped finding herself suddenly trapped in a barrier seal box. She banged on the sides but there was blessed silence.

"ARGH! Fuck off Tsunade, stop fucking harassing me! If I see you at my fucking house again I'm going to make your life a living hell," Moriko yelled, agitated to her breaking point. She found herself being gently restrained in a shadowy material, the strong but soothing flow of Yin chakra all around her keeping it from alarming her. It seemed to tighten gently around her tense shoulders, and after a moment of the odd embrace, she seemed to sag into the hold, worn out from being pulled too many directions at once. The shadow slowly resolved into a man, her left shoulder pressed against his chest as his left arm held her arms gently to her chest, and she grimaced at the loss of the Yin chakra.

"Moriko-san, Jiraiya-sama was going to tell you that we have been selected as your main Anbu Guard. We will normally be trading off on shifts both in and out of uniform. If you wish to take a week out of the village, we can help you prepare for departure immediately. Weasel, go pack your items first, both civilian and ninja gear as well as the rest of the items needed for the trip. Here, there should be a mission allowance in there," said Wolf soothingly to the young woman as he threw the younger Anbu a storage scroll to pack their stuff in. Weasel hesitated before disappearing in a shunshin. Jiraiya opened his mouth, but Wolf shook his head as he tightened the hug around the young woman's shoulders. She was clearly overworked and overwhelmed; any extra stimulus would just make her more upset. Wolf knew of a few places to the north that would have some areas with strong Yin chakra that they could stay at. She would be able to mentally recover with the abundance of Yin chakra and work when ready.

Jiraiya was staring at his student with concern before his attention snapped to where Tsunade was banging on the barrier she was sealed inside. His eyes lit like black fires with his anger. He knew he and Hiruzen had been asking a lot of his student, but Tsunade had been taking every opportunity to hound his student into her program despite he and his teacher speaking to her several times about this, and it was clearly taking a toll on his student's mental wellbeing. Tracking Moriko to her home to harass her while she was already swamped with work was stepping over a line they had made clear several times already. On top of that Naisho and his friends had been pranking Moriko back to back and she was clearly fed up with everything. Enough was enough.

Tsunade's attention was drawn to her teammate as he marched towards her with anger burning in his black eyes. In a snap, the barrier dissipated but before she could open her mouth to demand an explanation, Tsunade felt her body snap taut as she was fully restrained by a seal, Jiraiya grabbing the back of her haori and dragging her frozen floating form elsewhere. She made a muffled noise of outrage as she glared at him.

"No, don't fuck with me right now Tsunade! We've told you to lay off, and you didn't, so now we're going to have a little chat," he snapped clearly pissed. Her eyes widened in alarm, not used to her usually laid-back goofball of a teammate expressing anger with her. Wolf continued to hug the young woman around the shoulders murmuring soothingly as he coaxed her into letting him know what she needed before they left. His lightning clone went to speak with one of her shadow clones and the clones got her clothes and travel supplies ready.

"What are your chakra levels?" he murmured, slipping a hand under the long red hair to rub her back soothingly.

"I'm at a quarter full," she muttered. He hummed as their clones returned with her items already sealed and ready to go.

"Did you pack her instrument?" he asked the clones and they nodded. He took the scroll and slipped it in his kunai pouch before shouldering her large battle scroll, grunting under the weight. His clone passed him a blanket and he swiftly settled it around her shoulders trying to keep her relaxed as he held her. In minutes Weasel returned with a nod. A moment later, Wolf's lightning clone returned with his travel supplies and he tossed the scroll to Weasel who caught it easily.

"Are you comfortable summoning one of your hawks or would you like for me to carry you first to give you a chance to recover?" asked Wolf quietly, causing Moriko to blink as she returned to the present.

"Let's fly. Come here," she muttered as she bit her thumb and started running through hand signs, slamming it to the ground. The group found themselves on the back of a fairly large Hawk that had Wolf shooting her a concerned look, worried about how much chakra such a large summon might burn through.

"Where to?" asked Yamagata and Moriko sent Wolf a questioning look. Taking the hint, Wolf spoke up to the hawk as the young woman activated one of the barriers on the hawk's back that would keep the wind out, keep enough oxygen for her passengers available, and keep anyone from flying out if there were any sudden movements or if someone got too close to the edge. They took off a moment later, Moriko and Itachi already sitting. Startled Wolf used chakra to hold onto the large piece of leather that was on the hawk's back.

"Here Itachi," Moriko muttered as she went digging through her travel scroll, releasing medication for motion sickness and passing it over to the frozen Anbu, Weasel. He sighed before removing his mask.

"How did you know?" he asked as they gained altitude, Wolf still speaking with the hawk as they worked out navigation as he pointed out where he wanted to go off in the distance.

"About the motion sickness? You forget you've ridden Yamagata before," she murmured with a slight smile as he shot her an incredulous look.

"No, how did you know it was me?" he asked as she snorted and rolled her eyes.

"The same way I know Wolf is Ryusuke Nara. Have you never picked up on the fact that I can feel your chakra coming before you arrive?" she questioned as Itachi blinked in surprised realization.

"I just thought you had a high reaction speed like all upper-level ninja do," he pointed out as she shrugged.

"I mean I do but that's not what I was using," she said with another shrug as Wolf returned, clearly very uncomfortable with air travel. Moriko squeaked when he picked her up bridal style and settled her in his lap as he sat cross-legged on the leather saddle.

"This way you can sleep without me needing to worry about you rolling off the bird. And if we do fall off, I can save us with my ability to shape change," Wolf explained as he settled the blankets around her, tucking her in as she blushed, still taken aback by his assertive care. Itachi cleared his throat to hide the laugh that was threatening to bubble out as Wolf noticed the other man was without his mask. Moriko's face was too funny, Itachi noted with amusement.

"You can lose the mask, Wolf, she knows it's us. Also, Moriko-chan has a specialized series of barriers built into Yamagata's saddle that will keep us from falling off, suffocating, or freezing. Some, like this barrier, even keep the wind out while making it easier for Yamagata to fly by generating lift," said Itachi as Moriko gawked at the young man, Wolf hesitating a moment before removing his mask as well.

"I can't believe you remember that," she murmured, surprised as Itachi sent her a smirk. Ryusuke shivered lightly in the rapidly chilling air and Itachi activated one of the seals on the saddle, the air around them warmed enough to be comfortable again. Moriko's eyes were already drooping with fatigue and all too soon she was asleep.

"How did you know what to do?" Itachi asked quietly.

"Well, when you get to be my age…" Ryusuke joked before they both chuckled, knowing Ryusuke was only 26 compared to Itachi's 18.

"When my mother gets overworked and too stressed out in Intel this is what my father does for her. He works in the hospital as a medic-nin. He explained that with increased cortisol levels triggered by stress, the body's fight or flight instinct gets triggered. As such the amount of stimulus the body is able to perceive increases, leading to a higher sense of touch which is why some people's skin feels easily itchy. If you increase someone's senses and start touching them a bunch, or talking a lot, adding more to the stimulus, it's the easiest way to freak them out. It's probably why she started getting upset every time she told Jiraiya not to speak and he kept talking. Instead, my dad used to hold my mother tight like this, cutting out some of the excess stimuli while still offering her comfort. Tight hugs clinically decrease stress levels, helping lower cortisol levels, which is why they carry weighted blankets for patients with anxiety at the hospital. It's a way to stimulate the comforting pressure and weight of hugs," he said as Itachi shot him an incredulous look.

"What?" demanded Ryusuke a bit defensively when Itachi continued staring. The other man shook his head a small smile playing over his lips.

"I thought you'd just say something like, Aunty used to give me hugs when my parents were at work or something, not a detailed explanation including medical facts," Itachi chuckled as Ryusuke gave a haughty sniff.

"I'm sorry my Nara intellect is intimidating, lowly mortal," Ryusuke drawled sassily before they both chuckled.

Their last week spent training together and socializing when they had time had done much for their familiarity with one another. They remained in companionable silence for a time, trading tidbits of Anbu gossip and training tips here and there before Yamagata spoke up.

"Human, is that the place?" It had only been a couple hours into the journey, were they there already? In the distance there was a series of whitecap mountains and cliffs, waterfalls and the rising steam of natural hot springs covered in a lush forest. In the evening sun, the warm tones seemed dramatically showcase the stark beauty of such land. Ryusuke's legs turned to shadows allowing him to rise smoothy without disrupting his sleeping cargo before he looked the direction Yamagata had pointed and Itachi spotted a cliff and waterfall that bordered a clearing large enough for Yamagata to land in.

"That's the place, perfect Yamagata-sama," he called before he settled back into a seated position, legs reforming and regaining color as Itachi shook his head at such a disconcerting image that made.

This past week had been enlightening for Itachi. For Ryusuke to maintain his place in Anbu, he had to use techniques outside the Nara clan's famous techniques because he was the only Nara that tall and tan. As such, Itachi had never fought Wolf before with the other man using the full range of his abilities since Wolf typically used lightning and water techniques, kenjutsu and taijutsu to fight with.

Itachi still had nightmares from last week about the time he had pissed off the other man and Ryusuke had turned into shadows, moving too quick for Itachi to counter and blocked Itachi's airways and eyes. Seeing a shadow jumping for your face was already horrifying, now add to that the panic that you couldn't breathe, there was a tight pressure around your neck, and he couldn't grab it to remove it, fingers seeming to slide through the slightly viscous material. Itachi had been too panicked to react properly for a few seconds after the bizarre attack before he had tried to get the shadow off of him using a fire jutsu. That had resulted in the shadow going into his mouth and down his throat, causing his panic to spiral out of control, him losing control of the jutsu before he could perform it. He had started trying to scream as he flailed, and Wolf had relented retreating to the other side of the room while Weasel had tried to calm down as he caught his breath. He shuddered and shook his head, not wanting to remember such a horrifying sensation. Well, at least he had something to add to his genjutsu repertoire.

His mind flashed back to their first spar when they had gone all out against one another, no longer holding back after having tested one another. Wolf had suddenly turned into a mass of shadows and started racing for him, the mass zipping across the floor. Weasel had tried to cut it but it just flowed around his sword, a section of shadow darkening as it hardened and kicked him in the chest sending across the training hall. Weasel had ran through hand seals for a fire jutsu but Wolf was already rematerializing behind his airborne opponents back, lightning crackling over his frame as it boosted his speed and Weasel had to substitute to avoid a lightning enhanced Lariat to his neck. Itachi blinked out of his thoughts as the Hawk landed in a large clearing, a cliff to the left with a waterfall feeding into the lake below, a few streams breaking off from the lake. The area was surrounded by lush trees and brush. Itachi sniffed, smelling a hint of sulfur and the air turned hot and moist for a moment before it turned cool once more. He spotted a hot springs for a moment before it was hidden by brush and the hawk went in for it's landing, it's wings flaring before it alighted on the ground. Ryusuke rose as Itachi disengaged the barrier and the group departed from the bird, Ryusuke moving a bit slower to keep his cargo from waking up. Yamagata, seeing his summoner unconscious in the tall man's arms, clacked his beak in displeasure.

"I will unsummon myself after my summoner has slept," he told the two men causing them to shoot each other uncertain looks.

"Won't that drain her chakra?" asked Itachi worriedly as Ryusuke nodded. Yamagata regarded them for a moment, as if thinking it over.

"No. I will sever the drain and stay the night," he said before taking flight once more, the three people buffeted by the winds, Moriko shielded from them by her blanket. She stirred for a moment before settling back down. The two men shrugged before picking a spot in the clearing to set up camp for the night.

…

"This is an odd spot," commented Itachi as Ryusuke seemed to park himself and his charge over a particular spot in the beautiful clearing, the rustle of the wind making music of the trees .

"Just trust me, this is the spot we should set up the camp. Can you give me her sleep roll?" he asked, and Itachi unsealed it before passing it over. He settled Moriko's sleeping spot over the well of Yin chakra that he could feel rising from the earth, and they set about setting up the rest of the camp. Itachi set up the seals around the camp that would hide them from prying eyes and ears. Darkness was just starting to fall, dinner almost finished cooking when the young woman began to stir, sitting up sleepily. Itachi was a bit surprised for a moment before his eyes narrowed seeing that the other man wasn't. So Ryusuke was expecting her to wake despite being low on chakra for some reason, Itachi noted as he recalled how Ryusuke had prepared dinner for three people, not two to Itachi's confusion at the time.

"Smells good," Moriko murmured quietly as Ryusuke carefully passed her bowl of stew, pulling another blanket out of a pack and settling it around her shoulders. She sent him a grateful smile before she took a bite, humming in pleasure at the taste. Itachi sighed quietly to himself, a bit displease with how Ryusuke seemed far more assertive then himself in caring for the young woman.

Normally bodyguards just ensured the safety of their client, but Itachi suspected that Ryusuke intended to take a far more active role in looking out for Moriko then what was originally intended for his role. 'She's doing a lot for the safety of this village, at the highest levels possible. By protecting her, I'm protecting my home to the best of my abilities.' Ryusuke's words echoed in Itachi's mind, and Itachi frowned as he thought over the meltdown he had witnessed earlier today. It was so at odds with what he had always seen from the young woman over the years, he had been caught too flat footed to try to help the situation, but Ryusuke had known exactly what to do to deescalate it. It was one of the few times Itachi felt his younger age. If anything, Ryusuke seemed to been expecting the situation at some level and it seemed he wanted the role of bodyguard due to the pressure that the young woman was clearly under. He had made efforts to integrate and earn Itachi's grudging respect and even more grudging approval. The one-time Itachi had gone too far in their spar, it had been met with swift and brutal retaliation that got the message across but left no lasting harm. For a moment he felt the phantom sensation of something over his face and was glad that Moriko's seals kept his Anbu mask from feeling suffocating now.

Moriko sighed contentedly as she finished the contents of her bowl. She seemed to mentally come back to herself after a moment, touching a spot on her chest. A moment later her hair was blonde, eyes purple and Ryusuke startled into shadow form, having thought there was a stranger at their fire that had snuck up without detection. He shot towards the 'intruder' as Itachi dropped his bowl as he lunged towards the two, not wanting Moriko to experience the unpleasantness the Ryusuke could inflict.

"Ryusuke, stand down!" Itachi yelled as the shadow covered her face. Instead of panicking, Moriko's hands came up to pat the viscous shadow covering her face, an odd energy brushing over Itachi's senses as he got close to her hands, trying to remove the spooked ninja. Ryusuke seemed to still, hesitating for a moment before it pulled back enough for eyes to form in the odd material, letting Itachi see the small barrier mask that was active around Moriko's face, keeping her from being suffocated. Getting a better look at her Ryusuke reformed beside her looking a bit panicked.

"Are you ok, did I hurt you?" he demanded as she chuckled and shook her head.

"Sorry, I should have warned you before I did that, but whenever I'm out of the village I'm supposed to use my seal. Last time I forgot and got my ass chewed out," she said with a grimace as Ryusuke breathed a sigh of relief.

"That's pretty impressive though, being able to handle a full form manipulation. Those are typically very powerful abilities to have, and you seem to have a versatile and well trained grasp for it. Itachi are the privacy seals up?" Moriko asked and the young man nodded. She returned her attention to Ryusuke.

"Do you have a way to mitigate the weakness of your technique? I'm assuming bright light might be an issue for you. I think I can create a seal that will activate if you are in that form and there are bright lights," she started as she create a clone that retrieved her writing supplies as she began hastily scribbling down ideas to cover the weakness of such a technique. Ryusuke gently halted her hands as she wrote, causing her to blink in surprise as she looked up to find a kind, but firm look on his face.

"Maybe tomorrow. I know you're still in work mode because you haven't had a break in… weeks, but try to relax. If you absolutely have to, work for fifteen minutes and take a break. There's a hot spring over there if you'd like to get a hot bath while we clean up," he murmured as she seemed to deflate, shoulders sagging as she seemed to blink out of her previous thoughts. She seemed to struggle with herself for a moment before nodding.

"You have a point. Thank you," she murmured before rising with a sigh, her clone passing her fresh clothes and a couple large towels out of her scroll. She made her way to the hot spring pushing her way through the brush that seemed to surround the water.

The two men in the camp got to work cleaning up quickly, one staying closer by just in case as the other went to the lake to wash the dishes. Soon she returned and looked over Itachi's seals, adding a couple more before they turned in for the night, Ryusuke taking the first night watch as Itachi and Moriko went to sleep.

AN: Mwahahahaha!