"Perhaps, Neji, your understanding is flawed.

"Like the Kaguya and the Uchiha, they are cursed — not as overtly, yet doomed all the same. Consider the fate of the Murakumo; corrupted, as all of the Sage's descendants are, save perhaps the Senju.

"But we, Neji, remain untainted, the pure heirs of the Sage's fraternal twin. Whole, in body and mind; we remain the exception.

"Given this truth, is it any wonder that the Uzumaki fled to the heavens…?"

朧

月

7 — HAZY MOON

NARUTO TOOK A DEEP BREATH, and Hanabi's hand lifted from the paper.

"Will you be alright?" she asked.

"Of course," Naruto replied, his voice carrying a hint of force he hadn't intended. "It happened a long time ago."

Hanabi held his gaze, her eyes serene and intense at once — a characteristic of the Hyūga. Though Naruto was staring back, his own eyes appeared distant, lost in another time.

"I haven't been that vulnerable, scared child for a long time," he said, shaking his head slightly. "But remembering that day is still unpleasant."

"Acknowledging a part of you that you'd rather forget doesn't mean you have to be bound by it," Hanabi said.

Naruto met her eyes once more, a silent understanding flickering across his face as he did. To him alone, or perhaps to one who knew where to look, to those bound by the same threads of fate, it was there and clear as day.

It wasn't that her pale eyes held a reflection that tugged at something raw deep within him, a reminder of someone else — eyes far colder than Hanabi's could ever be, even with all she had seemingly endured. No. In hers, he saw the blood they both carried, the same unshakable stain he saw in his own.

"Are you truly talking to me?" he asked, his voice brushing against the distant edge of that stain, as if daring it to resurface.

She bristled, her fingers instinctively curling to shield her right hand's pointer and middle fingers, but she did not answer right away.

"That's irrelevant," Hanabi said, glancing at the inky black night through the window.

Naruto offered a thin smile. "Of course. We shinobi all have our demons."

Silence stretched in Komorebi Mura, and Naruto stood up to prepare more tea.

Neji watched him go in a fragment of this silence. "Does his story seem truthful so far?" he asked Hanabi, keeping his voice low.

"So far," she said softly. "I believe so, at least."

"Any inconsistencies?" Neji continued.

"Besides the glaring one?"

"Yes."

"No, nothing notable," Hanabi said. "Still, I might need more time to verify everything. It's odd he mentioned knowing Uzumaki Gojō well, given..."

"Yes."

"Wasn't it Uzumaki Nagato who escorted Shinpachi to Konoha?"

"He led the group, yes," Neji affirmed. "But there were others."

"Including Naruto, then?"

Neji noted her casual use of the man's first name but chose not to comment. "I've been trying to recall," he admitted, massaging his temples. "But with the Caged Bird Seal so freshly removed—" he stumbled slightly — "my thoughts are unclear. I'm battling a migraine."

"Sorry to hear it," Hanabi said, sympathizing. "Will you manage, or shall we resume tomorrow?"

Neji offered a wry smile. "I should manage, yes." He shook his head. "It is not as bad as it was at the beginning. The sort of headache that would have cleared on its own, before."

Given the scarcity of chakra since the Fall, such afflictions were less surprising.

Hanabi nodded in understanding. "I see. What about these restrictions, these bindings he mentioned — did you come across anything about them in your studies?"

"Not much," Neji confessed. "The Uzumaki were always secretive about their techniques. I did know of their Oaths, as I already explained to you."

Hanabi nodded. "Both things might be linked directly. I will try and probe him later."

"They might be," Neji agreed, his tone tinged with distaste, after a brief pause. "And it gives me some insight into what might have inspired our clan's seal."

Hanabi winced. "Do you think...?"

Neji nodded slowly. "It is possible that an Uzumaki was behind the idea of our seal. At least, it's a theory — but I hesitate to cast blame without certainty."

"Did you see him often in Konoha?" Hanabi asked. "Uzumaki Naruto, I mean."

Neji paused to think about it. "I…" — he rubbed his temples — "That's hard for me to recall, right now."

Their conversation stilled as Naruto came back from the other room. He sat down and basked in the silence for a moment.

"Let us cut to the chase before we go on. I believe I know what you are thinking," Naruto said, somewhat stiffly. "No yōkai has breached before the Night of Crimson, or something to that effect, right?"

A palpable tension hung in the air, hinting that his words might have hit their mark.

"Before the Fall," Neji eventually clarified. "That's the known truth."

"Fall, Night of Crimson… Shattering." Naruto shrugged dismissively — although he did seem to be rather tense. "That is all the same event, I'm afraid."

Hanabi's eyes were on Naruto, unblinking. "You mocked us about false truths, before," she said. "Would this be one of them? Were these beings always there?"

"Yes," he said, and then paused, seemingly to reconsider. "Well, no, perhaps that is a half-truth, as well."

Hanabi sighed, more than slightly frustrated. "And I suppose we will have to hang on until we get to the full explanation."

Naruto nodded, and he seemed just as unhappy. "Got it in one."

"You saved Shinpachi, then?" Neji's voice was low, probing the silence that had fallen between them.

Naruto shifted uncomfortably, his leg restless. "Would you call this saving?" he asked back, his tone edged. "No, he saved me. And Gojō... Gojō was the only reason we didn't all end up dead."

"Shinpachi never spoke of it," Neji murmured, half to himself.

"And that surprises you?"

Neji let out a startled little laugh. "No, perhaps you're right. I can see why he might choose silence…"

"I was there, Neji." Naruto's affirmation was firm, unyielding. And curt, too. "It seems you have something on your mind."

"Possibly," Neji allowed, his expression softening into a crooked smile. "It might seem ungrateful of me to be so skeptical, wouldn't it?"

"Perhaps, but it's not surprising." Naruto dismissed the notion with a shake of his head and a gesture of his left hand. "You were a shinobi, as I was. I'm used to it. Go on, then."

Neji inhaled deeply, hesitating momentarily before continuing, "Shinpachi never mentioned you. Not once."

Naruto paused, taking a slow sip from his cup, his demeanor calm and his eyes expressionless. "Is that so?"

Encouraged by Naruto's seemingly composed demeanor — but perhaps sensing the storm beneath — Neji pressed on. "He talked of Uzumaki Gojō, yes, and all the others. But never you..."

"Never," Naruto echoed, setting his cup down with a soft clink. "Or at least, not in a way that stuck with you."

Neji closed his eyes briefly, a gesture of introspection. "Again, I am more thankful to you than words can express—"

"I understand," Naruto cut in, his smile flat, and now entirely forced. "More than you know. And yes, this does cast a shadow of doubt on the tale."

Neji winced at the words, and before the silence could swell, Hanabi intervened. "Has he ever mentioned this Uzumaki Karin?" she queried, her voice a careful neutral. Naruto's jaws tensed.

"He hasn't," Neji replied, shaking his head. "But—"

"But Karin wasn't in Konoha," Naruto finished, his agitation growing with each word. "And Karin has no story to tell." He shut his eyes. "Because she is dead."

There must have been something in his tone, a telling sharpness in his voice, a raw edge that betrayed more turmoil than a man such as Naruto cared to show.

"You blame yourself," Hanabi breathed out.

That apparently did it.

Naruto's eyes snapped open, and the raw edges of his emotions laid bare. "Of course I blame myself!" His voice rose, not in volume but in a palpable wave of anger. "Wouldn't you? Everyone else died. Nineteen men, sixteen women, seven children — all gone. Wouldn't you—?"

"That's horseshit," Hanabi said firmly. "You were not the only survivor. And Shinpachi lived thanks to you—"

"Shinpachi saved me!" Naruto exploded, his voice suddenly so loud the words strained his throat. "Have you not heard a word I've said? Everyone else is gone — every single one of them!"

Hanabi's response was immediate, her tone as unwavering as her gaze. Unafraid, even in the face of aimless, burning anger. "You're blaming yourself for surviving, Naruto. That's what this is."

"And why shouldn't I?" His voice cracked, his fingers drumming a frantic rhythm on the table. "I knew deep down something was wrong, but I hesitated!" His fist then clenched at his side, his breathing ragged. "How can you stand there and defend me?"

"Someone has to tell you the truth," Hanabi retorted, her tone unwavering. "You're expecting the impossible from yourself."

"Why shouldn't I?" Naruto shot back, rising to pace the room in agitation. "Should I lie down like a wounded dog? Curse my stars? Pretend that—"

"You're carrying a burden that isn't yours to bear!" Hanabi stood up, matching his intensity despite Neji's attempts to calm the storm. "Yes, Shinpachi saved you, but you also saved him. You were just a child — a child who nearly died, mere moments before!"

Naruto stopped abruptly, his breath hitching.

"You were just a child," Hanabi's tone softened. "You did everything you could, more than anyone could have expected."

"Wrong," Naruto whispered hoarsely. "I couldn't do anything. If Shinpachi had saved her instead — or Shōzō, perhaps— she would have... They might have—"

"They might well have died," Hanabi interjected with a firm resolve. "I do not know the rest of your story, but then, at least, you were as courageous as anyone could be. Deep down, you know this."

A tense silence fell. Naruto's features momentarily softened...

Hanabi pressed on, "Let go of this guilt—"

And the edge returned sharply, flaring anew.

"Cut it out. Don't you dare preach to me about guilt," Naruto snapped. "Thanks for your forgiveness, Hanabi, but it's meaningless to me."

Hanabi's expression hardened. "I thought it might be," she replied coldly. "You're too caught up in your narrative to see anything else. There's only one story that matters to you — the one you're trying to convince yourself of, and us."

"There's a reason for that," Naruto shot back.

"And you won't share that reason, will you?" Hanabi demanded.

"There's a reason for that, too," he retorted, his voice icy. "A reason you can't possibly understand right now—"

"Carry on with your story, then," she said, her tone dismissive. "But I suspect you'll keep on dodging hard truths."

"The truth?" Naruto's voice softened, laced with a bitter irony. "What would you know of it—"

"I know you're running away."

A heavy silence fell. Neji's hand hovered above the table, ready to intervene in what seemed an imminent confrontation — a fight he would resent but undertake nonetheless.

"Running away?" Naruto's voice mixed disbelief with sarcasm. "I'm running away…?"

"That's what it's all about, isn't it?" Hanabi pushed further. "You're here, far from everything. You can't tell a story that doesn't raise more questions than it answers."

His gaze darkened. "What makes you think you understand the first thing about me?"

"I'm starting to see exactly what sort of man you are," Hanabi countered. "One who believes he can dictate the truth to others, convinced he alone perceives the world correctly. I know the sort."

"I'm trying to show you exactly who I am," Naruto hissed through clenched teeth. "If you'd just listen, maybe you'd draw the right conclusions."

"Do you mean the conclusions you want us to reach?" Hanabi's tone was icy. "We can think for ourselves."

"You're not doing a great job of it, so far," he said, with a flat and cutting smile.

"I am not the one projecting my childhood trauma onto others. I am not the one hiding behind a facade of righteous anger."

Naruto's expression cooled, the fleeting smile fading into a grim line. "Indeed, you are very different, Hanabi. You lecture me about guilt," he retorted, "as if you're not battling the very same demons."

"We are not the same," Hanabi hissed back.

"I thought you might say that," Naruto said softly. "But I suppose you don't need to tell me what you've done. It's there, in your eyes, clear as day."

There was a pause, during which the tension in the room thickened into something nearly tangible.

"So, tell me, Hanabi." He gestured with a raised hand. "Am I really the one who's running away—?"

Neji stood up, both hands slamming upon the table.

"Enough!" he declared, his voice cutting through the mounting hostility like a blade. "Both of you. We need a break. Now."

His words seemed to snap Naruto out of his spiral. Without another word, he stood and exited the room, his movements controlled, but brimming with pent-up energy.

Hanabi, her chest heaving from the remnants of her anger, turned to Neji, eyes wide and shimmery.

"I apologize, Hanabi," Neji began, his tone gentle, an attempt to mend the fractures between them. "If I had known—"

"No," she interrupted, her voice still ragged from the emotional outburst. "It was quite unbecoming of me — I should be the one apologizing." Her gaze dropped to the floor, her clenched fists gradually relaxing.

A heavy silence enveloped the room.

Hanabi's eyes drifted towards the door through which Naruto had vanished, her mind racing.

"He knows," she finally said, her voice a hushed whisper. "Curse it. I don't know how, but he knows."

Naruto stepped out of the warm house and into the cold, and the door closed with a soft thud behind him.

The world outside was as quiet as it always was; an endless expanse of snow, seemingly serene under the black sky. He began to walk, and his footsteps left a solitary trail as he went. His breath misted over as he ventured further from the house, with a distant gaze. He walked into a clearing where the snow lay undisturbed. Pristine and unmarked.

He stopped there, and his eyes scanned the dark heavens, as if searching for something that wasn't there, something beyond the fractured arches. But try as he might, all he could smell was sea salt. All he could hear was the sound of the waves. All he could feel was warm, humid heat. All he could taste was the brine on his lips.

And all he could see in this pitch black night was the endless horizon; the sun dipping low in the evening, disappearing behind the lapping waves; a sky painted in shades of crimson.

The moon, blood on his hands…

His shoulders tensed, and his posture stiffened. For a moment, he tried to fight it. But the dam broke, and his face crumpled under the weight of memories.

With a shuddering breath, Naruto knelt in the snow, and the cold seeping through his clothes felt achingly real. He buried his face in his hand, his body shaking with sobs that he could no longer suppress.

The snow around him was the only witness to his breakdown, and it offered no solace to his grief.

Naruto and Hanabi unexpectedly met in the short hallway outside the main room.

She had intended to find him, though she wasn't quite sure what she would say once she did. The tension from their previous confrontation lingered, making the hallways seem longer than it was.

Her anger had subsided enough for her to regret her earlier words. Enough for her to consider explaining the twisted circumstances that had led her to her actions then — a motive; self-preservation against a slow and simmering danger; loathing. As though she needed to justify herself to anyone. Or perhaps it was more for herself than this man.

But there was no good way to begin such a story.

Uzumaki Naruto, on the other hand, seemed to truly believe his story needed sharing. He had freed Neji for it, doing what she and her cousin had begun to think impossible. An act that meant more than Naruto could know.

Listening to his tale: that was his price.

If — if — she were to even mention her past at all, it would be later. And aside from Neji, that man would be the first person she would confide in about those events.

She knew she had her pride (and her temper), and Uzumaki Naruto seemed to carry his own, too.

There seemed to be more important matters than pride, right now.

"I apologize," she said at the same time he said, "I'm sorry."

Hanabi blinked, and he seemed taken aback as well. And then he chuckled low in his throat.

"No," he murmured. "I get what you were trying to do. This one's on me. And it's not the first time tonight."

"I believe that makes three apologies you owe me," Hanabi said, a trace of a smile playing at the corners of her mouth.

"And I mean every one of them," he confirmed.

"Undoubtedly."

Of course, she wouldn't mention it, but his words had cut deeper than any blade. She had cried briefly upon Neji's shoulder, leaving trails of tears on her face, while he showed no signs of this sort of distress at all. Perhaps she had misread him.

Naruto exhaled a long breath, his demeanor softening. "…You were right, Hanabi."

"Was I?"

"Some days," he confessed, "most days, I wish I could run from all this."

Hanabi offered him a wry smile, arms folded as if against a cold. "Who wouldn't?"

"It's not just about this," he continued, motioning vaguely to the world beyond. He met her gaze. "You know what I'm talking about. What I did. What we both did."

She caught her breath.

"That's why I knew," he added, pausing to chuckle. "That, and a clever little trick I once learned."

Hanabi let out a long exhale.

They stood very still, as if waiting for something they weren't sure about, something that would lift the tension.

"…Do you also find it hard to sleep?" Hanabi ventured, unsure if she was intruding or merely persisting.

But Naruto offered a faint smile, an olive branch. "I hardly sleep at all. And when I do, it feels more like collapsing."

"Nightmares, as well?"

"Rather often," he muttered.

Silence fell again.

"I remember wondering," Hanabi started, her voice fading, "is this how it will always be now?"

"So did I," Naruto said with a sad little grin. He dragged a hand through his hair. "You've seen me today," he said. "I was worse, then."

Hanabi nodded, her expression somber. "I imagined as much."

"Well, you won't have to imagine much longer," Naruto added with a mirthless chuckle. "We'll get there. And believe me, it wasn't even the worst day of my life."

"That is quite the ringing endorsement," Hanabi replied, the corners of her mouth twitching upwards in a faint smile. Naruto laughed, a more honest sound than anything she had ever heard from him in a while.

It probably wasn't the healthiest way to form a bond, she mused, but it happened all the same, in this quiet, short hallway.

"This is a memory aid," Naruto said. "A rather basic one, that was sometimes given to children in Uzushio. A focus of sorts."

He had brought out a worn handful of paper tags and dealt them around the table. Neji read them curiously.

"Take your time with it," Naruto encouraged. "I assume you're familiar with at least the basics of the sealing arts."

"Just the basics," Neji said.

"Is that enough to understand how this works, or should I walk you through it?" Naruto asked.

Neji gave him a long look and then chuckled. "Call me foolish if you wish, but I trust your explanation regardless."

"That is foolish," Naruto smiled warmly. "But proceed as you like."

Hanabi stretched her back, arms arching over the back of the chair, and Naruto's eyes caught just one instant too long. She noticed — just as Neji did — and raised an eyebrow. "I don't know much about Sealing," she said, before giving him a pointed look. "Nor about binding."

"Let's start from the basics, then," Naruto said, as he inked his brush. "Now, look here." He drew eight symbols — no, characters — on paper, his hand moving with effortless speed. Neji watched, wondering how many times Naruto had done this. "What do you call this set?"

"That's Dragon," Neji said to Hanabi. "But unarmed — just ink on paper, right now."

"Indeed it is," Naruto smiled. "It's part of the kanji-based sealing language all children in Uzushio learn. The syntax and semantics are straightforward and familiar to anyone." He shrugged. "But those qualities, along with a few other reasons, make it rather limited."

"So there are others, beyond the different writing styles?" Neji asked.

"Yes, there are different syllabaries, scripts, and languages," Naruto said with a nod. "Each one offers unique expressions and insights that others can't."

Naruto paused.

"Think of it this way," he continued, gesturing broadly. "Every language shapes its speakers' worldview. Having multiple languages lets us perceive and describe our world in diverse ways."

Hanabi listened intently.

"Now, look at this," Naruto said, drawing the kanji for Dragon. "This one, on its own, is not a seal."

"No," Neji said.

Naruto smiled. "Let's go back to the first one. What if I did this?" He pressed a finger near the eight previously drawn characters. With a muted flash of chakra, they merged into one, shaped exactly like the single kanji.

"It's now a seal, compressed," Neji observed. "Like many seals, compressed and concealed to obscure their secrets."

"Obfuscated," Naruto corrected before wincing. "Sorry, that's a bit anal-retentive."

"One of them still isn't a seal," Hanabi said, and Naruto smiled.

He tapped the second symbol, infusing another pulse of chakra. "Now it is, isn't it?"

Neji blinked. "That shouldn't be possible—"

"No?" Naruto chuckled. "Did you think special ink was always necessary, especially for something so fundamental?" He shook his head. "Ink, like the symbols and runes themselves, is just a tool. I could manage without it if needed."

Hanabi studied them closely, then let her Byakugan fade. "It's hard to discern more than minor differences, even with our abilities."

"That's because they're almost identical." Naruto said. "The longer version is more stable, as its Intent and Meaning are clearer, which also gives it a higher theoretical maximum output. The single character is a shortcut, best for those who know it well — or when time is short, like in a battle."

Neji nodded slowly. Like hand seals.

"Yes," Naruto said. "That is how most seals are crafted. Uzumaki aren't the only ones who obfuscate their seals — though I'd argue we excel at it. Sometimes, they're designed to resemble other characters, to mislead, or even self-destruct under specific conditions. It's only prudent not to reveal one's secrets to the enemy, right?"

Hanabi remained silent.

"Really?" Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Did you think whatever you saw of a seal was necessarily the whole story? Just a minimized version of it?"

"Not exactly," Hanabi shrugged. "But fūinjutsu was always shrouded in secrecy within our clan."

"Fair enough," Naruto said.

"Does that mean once a seal is… obfuscated, its original purpose is obscured beyond recognition?"

"Not entirely," Naruto replied. "It's possible to uncover and decode it, though it can be very challenging. Naturally, if the seal is close to failing, it's much easier to unravel."

"I see," she said.

"But you raise a good point," Naruto said. "I could have obfuscated this Dragon here to look like Boar, for one." He paused. "Or I could do it now."

"But it would weaken some," Neji said quietly. "Because the 'meaning' matters for seals as 'intent' does."

Naruto smiled. "Very perceptive. The closer we stick to the intended effect, the more powerful a seal tends to be. That goes for the different meanings attributed during the writing… and the final design of it."

Neji noticed another thing.

"You could do it anyway, couldn't you?" he asked.

"I could," Naruto agreed.

Neji fell quiet for a moment. "Doesn't all this — the Caged Bird and now this — confirm you as a master of the art?"

Naruto shrugged, leaning back slightly. "…I suppose it might, shouldn't it?"

They basked in the silence, and Neji finally drank from his tea, which he noticed was still hot. With a wry smile, Naruto lifted his own cup, and there was a small symbol written underneath it — a symbol Neji didn't recognize, although he could guess what it did.

The implications of what Naruto could have done were bad enough, and he commented on the matter anyway.

"Uzumaki Masahina once took out a target with a seal inscribed under a cup." Naruto's tone was casual, as if he were commenting on the weather. "A delayed activation. The taster didn't bother checking the cup itself, and it was easy enough to release the agent into the tea afterward."

To Neji's surprise, Hanabi merely rolled her eyes and continued sipping her tea. "While Neji might have been too preoccupied to notice, I saw the subtle trickle of chakra," she said. "And I assumed that if it was a trap, we were already caught too deep in it."

"Very practical of you," Naruto grinned.

He slid the worn cards across the table towards them.

"Now, let's return to this memory aid," he continued. "As I mentioned, it's primarily a basic talisman for children, but that doesn't mean it's not effective."

Neji took a moment to observe the symbols, and once more, recognizing none, he grunted, which seemed to amuse Naruto.

"I've never seen that tag before," Neji said. "Is it really one children made?"

"No," Naruto replied with a wry smile. "It's probably wise not to let children handle anything related to memory."

"I can't decipher these symbols," Neji admitted. "Could you explain how the tag works?"

"I can't say much about some in-depth secrets," Naruto said with a nod. "But—"

"Have you undertaken an oath of some sort?" Hanabi asked.

Naruto's smile deepened. "You and I both know that if I had, I might not be able to tell you."

"That's as good as a yes to me," she said. "I assume it is not as restrictive as some might be, if you can even say that much — or perhaps it is more cleverly worded…?"

"You're welcome to think so," Naruto replied amiably. "What I can share is that, though obscured, the original seal was crafted in the same traditional logogram as Dragon from before — in a natural language. You'd have been able to read the symbols before they were obfuscated."

"Does it matter?" Hanabi asked.

"It does, to an extent," Naruto replied. "This is a relatively basic tag." He paused, choosing his words carefully. "Sealing, whether through writing, spoken incantations, or hand signs, involves channeling chakra or the forces behind it — though that's getting into semantics.

"According to our clan's lore, Fūinjutsu predates other methods. The tales say that Indra later invented hand seals to simplify the process for most people. I do not know whether any of it is true or not."

Naruto gave a rueful chuckle. "Uzumaki, being somewhat prideful, chose to adhere to the original techniques, believing them superior." He paused again, reflecting. "However, as wars continued to rage, we also ended up learning to use hand seals, of course.

"It's important to understand that you can't merely write a 'fire' symbol and expect something significant to occur. You need a deeper understanding of the symbols that could chemically initiate a fire. That would make doing it feasible.

"The same way, there's a big gap between, let's say, sealing 'hot air' and sealing 'heat' — the concept. The more abstract this concept, the more complex the sealing. Generally," Naruto concluded, sighing. "And naturally, there are complications for both — such as conflicts between symbols, to start with. For instance, if we're still talking about fire, combining Dao and Meng requires Mya, and that's just the beginning. Mya tends to ensure containment, which is something that doesn't fit well with Dao — which tends to tear things apart. And we're certainly not aiming to create an unstable explosive."

"I have to interrupt," Hanabi interjected, pausing to gauge Naruto's reaction. "Not because I'm curious about their meanings — I assume you can't disclose that anyway. Besides, I'm not that eager to know just yet."

"Then what is it about?" Naruto asked.

"You mentioned that Fūinjutsu was primarily about sealing things, right?" Hanabi clarified. "What you're talking about…"

Naruto gave a slight shrug. "At its most basic, yes. But there's more to it," he glanced at her. "We talked about how perception matters, did we not?"

"Yes," Hanabi replied, though it was clear she was unsure where he was leading — Neji felt a bit similarly.

"It's as important as Intent or Meaning. Or Will," Naruto affirmed. "And to be entirely honest, by now, I see no difference between sealing an object within another, sealing a secret with a condition, or even sealing the components of a technique or a basic reaction. To me, all these are fundamentally the same."

"How so?" she asked, frowning. "To me, it sounds quite radical."

"To me, and to many Uzumaki, it isn't," Naruto explained, his voice steady. "In fact, in our dialect, the word for binding and sealing used to be the same. And perhaps that understanding is crucial."

"How so?" Hanabi asked again, genuinely intrigued.

"It still is the basic idea behind any binding. Think of it this way: at its core, sealing is about containment and control. Whether it's an object, a secret, or a technique, the underlying principle remains the same. You're establishing boundaries and setting conditions for how these boundaries can be interacted with — crossed or maintained."

She nodded slowly, and Neji was listening intently.

"For example," Naruto continued, "sealing an object within another is like placing something valuable in a safe. You define where it is, how it can be accessed, and under what conditions it can be retrieved."

He waited for her to nod again. "Similarly, when you seal a secret with a condition, you are setting the equivalent of a password. The secret can only be unveiled when specific conditions are met. You're not just hiding something; you're also managing access to it.

"Sealing the components of a technique — or a phenomenon — follows the same logic. You're compartmentalizing different aspects of a technique into manageable, controllable parts. Each component is locked away until the right sequence is followed and chakra is applied in the right patterns."

Naruto nodded, sounding half-satisfied with his explanation. "So, whether it's a physical object, a piece of information, or the steps of a jutsu, the essence of sealing is control, containment, and conditional access. That's the power — and the complexity, admittedly — of the Art."

Hanabi took a moment to think about it, before nodding.

"I can't say I truly agree or see it," she said. "But I suppose that's fine, too."

"It is," Naruto smiled. "And, well, it took me a long time to do even half that."

Neji, still focused, continued to examine the tag. "How does this one function?" he asked quietly. "Or is that something you can't discuss?"

Naruto shrugged. "This memory aid uses the same principles I just outlined," he said, attempting a neutral tone but unable to hide the spark of excitement that Neji noticed always surfaced when discussing seals. "Imagine you have a specific memory, or even a cluster of memories, that you want easy access to. How would you manage that, considering what I've just explained? And let's stick to what you'd consider 'strict' Fūinjutsu for now — no branching too far into jutsu shiki, even though I see them as two sides of the same coin, likely even the same one."

Hanabi offered Neji only a shrug, signaling he was on his own.

"…I suppose we could compartmentalize it?" he ventured.

"Exactly!" Naruto almost beamed. "We seal it not to conceal it but to preserve it in a state where it's easily accessible and less cluttered than most other thoughts."

Naruto paused. "Here's how it logically follows: you set up the seal with specific triggers — conditions under which the memory becomes vividly available. Not unlike how a safe might need a specific code to open. In theory, the code could be anything from a particular state of mind, a physical location, or even a specific word or phrase that activates the recall."

"In theory?" Hanabi asked. "So that's not possible here?"

"Not exactly," Naruto said, shaking his head.

"Why not? Should you not be able to 'bind' it to another memory, or thought?" Hanabi asked. "Assuming I understood the core concept."

"You did, and that's a clever solution," Naruto agreed. "But a rather more complicated one, and it's something of a mess to set up something like this with the basic logogram. These simple memory aids don't quite extend that far."

"But it's not impossible?" she pressed.

"No," Naruto shook his head. "It's not impossible."

Hanabi set the cards down, pondering.

"These operate more straightforwardly," Naruto explained. "Each tag has a symbol. You take a card, practice the symbol, and then draw it on your paper at specific spots before infusing it with chakra. And Intent, of course, but you're no stranger to hand signs. These tags are tailored for beginners, so the symbols are intentionally straightforward."

Hanabi hummed contemplatively — and noncommittally.

Neji looked at Naruto, a hint of curiosity in his gaze. "You brought these out for a good reason, didn't you?"

"Yes," Naruto said, nodding. "There are a few notions I want you — need you — to keep firmly in mind."

Hanabi raised an eyebrow.

"Shall we begin?" Naruto extended his hand towards the table scattered with colorful tags. "I'll guide you through the placements."

He then smiled.

"And yes, although it's not harmful, this will require you to trust me — perhaps even more blindly than before."

lensdump:

i/nqedMZ : A Few Types of Cards

AN: Alright, I tend to upload on Fridays — not necessarily every week, but that's when I tend to do it.

In the meantime, thoughts, theories, and anything in between are welcome, of course.
Next chapter: Monkey