𓍊𓍊 ~ Chapter Thirty-Eight — Slug Princess ~ 𓍊𓍊
His parents never made any fucking sense. That was probably because he was a child… children were ignorant and stupid. His Genin team exemplified that a hundredfold. Ryujin hadn't done anything with them since… since… before the exams started? Hmph. Something inside him told him to fix it, but Ryujin didn't care to at this current moment. If they were truly his students, then they should've been promoted, anyway. Team 5 was out of his hair as far as he was concerned. It felt… odd? Like it was all too soon. Why did some part of him wish he had more time with them?
Eh, it was besides the point.
What even was the point? Of any of this?!
Ryujin decided to do a little memory dive about his parents in order to pull some sort of semblance of identity together. One's identity was allegedly tied greatly to their heritage. At least, that was what Gosei would think; not that Ryujin was inspired by him, no, the end ideology just happened to be similar.
But because of the fact that Ryujin was four when his parents were last alive, he didn't remember much about who they were. Just vague Koans that never made sense, Koans that he latched on to as if nothing else in the world existed. Well… he wasn't four anymore. How old was he…? Twenty… something? Eh, exacts didn't matter. He was old enough to understand whatever those Koans held, probably.
With a grunt, Ryujin stood. The surrounding wind blew in the night-time forest. Half of Konoha's library was still standing. Hopefully, in that half… there would be these 'Koans' that he hadn't heard about since.
Ryujin began his walk.
It didn't take too long… the library was at the center of the village. As he heard, half of it was non-existent, with the other half crumbling. A similar state to the stadium after… whatever happened to it. Ryujin didn't care to check. Ryujin simply marched right into the crumbling library with zero resistance, giving no mind to the judgemental crows perched above.
In the crumbling half of the library, there were also people scouring it for whatever they were looking for. Everyone present just avoided him. Ryujin preferred it that way. With all the time in the world, Ryujin checked… every aisle. Eventually, he did find something worth looking at.
The Journey to Enlightenment and Self Actualization: A Collection of Koans.
It was… exactly what he was looking for. Ryujin opened the book, flicking through pages to see that…. It was intact? For a minute straight, Ryujin sat and waited for something to go wrong.
Nothing did.
Uneasy, he narrowed his eyes on the book, flaring his chakra to release any Genjutsu. The book remained exactly the same as it did before. With a haggard sigh, Ryujin held on to the book and walked out of the library, nobody questioning him at all.
You don't seriously expect this to help you, do you?
It's… something.
Ryujin felt Kyuubi roll his eyes. Waste your time as you please, and you best not complain when it fails you like everything else has.
That made Ryujin stop in his tracks. He barked out a sigh and continued the walk toward the isolated forest where he hid out. The journey back somehow felt longer than the journey to. What if this was just some useless waste of time? What if his parents were idiots that followed these meaningless words to their own deaths?
It didn't even make him want to try to see what this was about. Despite that, Ryujin made a promise. A promise to Dantai, a promise to himself. To at least try. As much as he didn't want to. As much as he wanted to just waste… he couldn't because of that.
Part of him wished he never made that promise.
In his isolated forest, Ryujin sat cross-legged on the grass and opened the book. The first page read as followed:
Who is it that repeats the Sage's Name?
Who is this dragging corpse about?
What is this?
What is it?
What was the original face before my father and mother were born?
Who am I?
Just from reading that, Ryujin felt like a child again.
—
Under the blanket of sparkling stars, sitting cross-legged on a mattress of soft grass, the Toad Sage and the Vine Sage combined their sensing capabilities in order to cover the entirety of the Land of Fire. Yosei would've usually been able to do that by herself, but her battle with Killer Bee, of course, left her severely weakened. She would have liked to think she had done the same to him, but likely, that was not the case.
All the more reason to sharpen her skills even further, no matter what. Perhaps a third moniker by the end of the inevitable Fourth Shinobi War. But, that was far off. What was paramount was finding either Tsunade or Orochimaru and Shinrai.
Fortunately for the two Sages, Tsunade's chakra was loud, despite her surely weak state. It was also nearby, only two towns away. They would be able to reach her by the evening of the next day.
Jiraiya, despite the success, let out a sigh. "Now here comes the hard part…"
"Indeed," agreed Yosei, before they both closed their eyes and focused deep into the natural energy around them.
After Tsunade, they found a similar chakra, it was as if the mystic palm was active in the entirety of her system at all times, yet much more powerful. Nearby was a chakra that felt like a blizzard. Immediately, Jiraiya's eyes went wide. "Shinrai!"
"That's him?" asked Yosei.
Jiraiya nodded. "But based on the direction that he's going… it's toward Konoha."
"And we have sensed nothing of Orochimaru thus far," Yosei considered.
Slowly, Jiraiya's eyes narrowed. "Either he escaped, or… he succeeded."
Doubtful, Yosei decided to sense even farther, with Jiraiya complying shortly after. They stayed awake for the rest of the night… only to find nothing.
There were only two possibilities.
Orochimaru was either dead or not in the Land of Fire. Considering the Snake Sannin's state after Konoha Crush… one seemed much more likely than the other.
Yosei allowed herself to smirk. Now… you've caught my interest, Shinrai Uzumaki.
—
Angry. That was the emotion that Orochimaru was feeling. Baiko… didn't know what title to give him. Not Father, he had one… even though he was dead. The same went for the title of mother, with the added stipulation that Orochimaru was a man. Lord? Baiko didn't know what that meant, exactly, though that was what Kabuto had called him. It seemed wise to follow in his example.
His 'lord' was sat on a chair. Every part of him was wrapped in bandages, especially his arms. He wouldn't stop squirming and growling and hissing. Orochimaru was in pain. A lot of it by the looks of it. That made Baiko feel… weird. Like his body lost some of its strength, his face falling, scrunching in the worst way possible.
Sad.
Seeing someone in pain made him sad.
"...Lord Orochimaru!" Baiko called.
"What?!" he spat. His tone burned like acid. It made Baiko flinch.
Swallowing hard and gathering his bravery, Baiko asked, "Is there anything I can do to help you?"
"What could you possibly do?!" sneered Orochimaru, his half visible eye glaring at him.
Again, it hurt. Baiko curled up in a ball in the corner he sat in. "I'm sorry…"
Orochimaru growled as the agony he was in consumed him. Not long after, Kabuto had arrived. A syringe with a clear liquid was inside. It seemed that they could exchange words with just their eyes.
With a tight tense of his body, Orochimaru prepared himself. Carefully scouring Orochimaru's neck, Kabuto stuck him with the needle. It seemed that it took every bit of Orochimaru's control to stay still as Kabuto injected him with the fluid.
After it was done, Orochimaru relaxed, letting out a sigh.
"What was that?" Baiko asked.
Kabuto placed the syringe down on a nearby metal plate. "A numbing agent. One I concocted myself. In higher doses… it's more than lethal."
"I see…" Baiko nodded. "It's going to make Lord Orochimaru feel better, right?"
"It already has," responded Orochimaru. He didn't seem to be lying. There were no more sounds and sights of pain on his body. "Damn your brother…"
"Shinrai?" asked Baiko. "What about him?!"
"Do you know what happened to your parents?" asked Orochimaru.
A twinge of hurt slashed through Baiko. "They were killed by somebody evil… that's all I can remember. I tried to defend Shinrai from them too…"
"That evil person… they were from Konoha," Orochimaru informed.
That name… that place… it was vaguely familiar to Baiko. "Can you remind me what that is?"
"In this world, there are Five Hidden Shinobi Villages. Konoha was the most powerful. But, those who have power are often the most despicable. I used to be a Shinobi of that village, but I broke out of their evil way;, they called me a fugitive and labeled me a criminal once they found out I was working against them.
"My coming across you and your family was a chance encounter. Your parents were heroes that worked against Konoha at every turn. However, Konoha naturally did not like that at all. They killed your parents, and I was barely able to save you and your brother. But despite my best efforts, I was found. When that happened, they took Shinrai."
Baiko gasped, clenching his fists. He felt hot. That… was rage. "No…!"
"Unfortunately, it is true," Orochimaru said, taking on a sympathetic tone. "Shinrai has fallen for Konoha's brainwashing; he sees me as the world's greatest evil, when I am but a hero in the same vein as your parents. Recently, my valiant attempt to destroy Konoha once and for all had failed.
"As you can see, it came with heavy cost. I am but a shell of my former self… Shinrai and a traitor named Karin came to assassinate me once and for all. Luckily, they failed, but Shinrai's power left me even weaker than I was before. A final act of fury from your brother stopped your growth."
"What?" Baiko asked, confused, angry. How dare Konoha do this…
"Your brother tried to, in his eyes, 'save you' from me. When in fact, he is the one that's in the wrong. For years I had you asleep, I had you asleep so I can give you all of the power you need to destroy Konoha. You are still incomplete, but… you're close enough to where I can assure this.
"You, Baiko Uzumaki, have the potential to learn every Jutsu there is known to man. The only thing you are not is immortal."
Baiko looked at his hand, eyes wide. "Every… Jutsu…?"
"Indeed." Orochimaru tried to lean forward, but failed, too weak to do so. "Once I am in a better state, I'll be able to train you."
"Alright," Baiko said, clenching his fists. The blue of his chakra spewed from his fists as he thought of Konoha, as he thought of Shinrai. How could something be so despicable as to kill a family and kidnap children?! What were they after?! What were their goals?! It didn't matter. What mattered was getting Shinrai back, what mattered was reuniting with his brother.
All of the fire in his body churned like he was sick. His only family was aligned with evil— the brother that he swore to protect. His chakra spewed and spewed and it felt like he was about to explode.
The fury the desperation the isolation it all came to a head.
Baiko's eyes burned.
The boy screamed.
A pressure in his temples made his eyes feel like they were about to burst. He could see… everything! Under him, behind him, ahead of him, above him, all at the same time. It didn't stop there, everything he saw was burned into his memory, as if he'd never forget it. He saw through things.
Lord Orochimaru's heart beat in slow motion under the vision of his eyes.
Baiko couldn't stop screaming as his eyes burned out, as the pressure in his temples became worse and worse, as all of the information made him nauseous. It took everything in his power for him not to vomit.
"Make it stop!" Baiko pleaded.
Voice soothing, Orochimaru responded with, "Focus. Focus on me Baiko. One thing at a time."
Just that, Baiko did. Orochimaru became the anchor in his expanded reality. Everything came to a stop once he focused on Orochimaru and Orochimaru alone. The headache subsided, so did the burn of his eyes.
The pressure on his temples, however, remained.
From behind the bandages, Orochimaru smiled wide. "Outstanding…"
"What? What happened?! What happened to my eyes?!"
Calmly, Kabuto picked up the metal plate and showed Baiko his reflection. It was the first time that he'd seen his own face in forever. Not since before his parents… were killed. Short, messy crimson hair. Brown skin. His face was… a rounded, sharp shape, it seemed.
What was most striking… were his eyes. A pale red, almost pink iris that faded into his sclera and surrounded a midnight pupil had a hatcheted ring separating it from the rest of his eye. Around that ring, was a single tomoe. On his temples were pulsing, bulging veins that added an inhuman intensity to his eyes.
"What…? What is that?" asked Baiko, gently touching his veins.
Orochimaru titled his head. "Those eyes are part of the power that I've given you. I call them… The Byaku-Sharingan."
"I see…" Baiko muttered, shaking his head at the pun he unintentionally made. "It feels strong."
"Oh Baiko," Orochimaru began, smirking like a snake. "You've barely scratched the surface."
"Lord Orochimaru," Kabuto interjected. "Our Anti-Senjutsu Barriers are beginning to fall, Shinrai caused too much damage to the stability of our hideout. We need to move out before we're discovered."
"Dammit…" Orochimaru cursed. "Baiko, come closer, would you?"
Of course, Baiko did as his Lord commanded. Soon after, Kabuto took some of Orochimaru's blood and made a series of hand signs. "Reverse Summoning Jutsu!"
In a puff of smoke… all of them were gone.
—
Ow… fuck, groaned Naruto as he unpeeled his face from the carpet floor. His head felt like it was a thousand ton weight being put in a blender. His still crossed legs were locked, sore, aching. Naruto was surprised to find that Kyuubi did not have his claws digging into his spine despite the fact that it felt like that.
"Ow…!" Naruto groaned, falling into despair as he sat up, holding his head. "Did I fall asleep like this?!"
"Yeah! You did!" answered Natsuyo.
Slowly, Naruto forced his stiff neck to look at her. She was sittingcross-legged on the bed, her hand in the Tiger Seal. Now that Naruto was awake, he noticed how hot the room was. "Y'know," he began, "It would've been nice for you to make sure I was in a more comfortable position when I fell asleep."
"Huh?! You wanted me to touch you while you're asleep?!"
"What?! No!" yelled Naruto as he forced his legs to uncross. "You could've woken me up so I can get myself out!"
"Well, you fell asleep after I did."
"Ugh!"
Naruto finally freed himself from his own body and let out a cry of relief. Slowly, he lowered himself onto his back, in a much more comfortable position. A type of 'it hurts so good' sigh that Shinrai let out a lot came from Naruto's breath as he finally relaxed.
Silence fell between the two with Naruto trying his best to stretch the stiffness away. Eventually, both of them became sick of only hearing the sound of Naruto's groaning in the empty room.
"So!" Natsuyo broke the silence with a smile. "How's the seal going?"
"It's actually going pretty well! I'm almost done! It's a miracle that I didn't drool on it while I was sleeping, y'know!"
Natsuyo paused for a bit. "Yeah…! That is a good thing! It would be better if you didn't drool… at all."
"Well, I can't help it sometimes! How am I supposed to control myself when I'm asleep?!"
"Just keep your mouth closed?! What if a bug crawls in there?!"
"Free food!"
"That's nasty."
"Probably, but I've done worse."
Natsuyo's eyes went wide. "You've what?!"
"Yeah!" Naruto affirmed with a laugh. "The truth or dare games with Shinrai were crazy a few years back… I had to eat a roach once, and it actually tasted kinda good."
Natsuyo just stared at him. "...You're insane."
"Yeah! Insanely fun!"
"No, just insane."
Naruto gasped, sitting up, his stiff and soreness already calmed. "What?! Gosei never made you do stupid shit?!"
"No?!"
"Huh? What? Then how do guys like, get along?!"
"We train together a lot! Eat meals together, talk, like regular people!"
"That's boring."
"That isn't boring?!"
"It is when that's all you do! Like, what games did you guys play together?!"
Natsuyo smiled. "We had a bunch of competitions! Like I got tree walking before him, but he got water walking before me, and—"
"That's just training!"
"And training isn't fun?!"
"Of course it is! But Shinrai and I did a lot more, y'know? Like we have more board games than we can count! Whenever we got bored of one game, we just changed the rules to make it fun! Like we combined all of our dinosaur toys with Shogi to make Prehistoric Shogi! Where we had to make certain combos with the pieces to unlock dinosaurs! Each dinosaur had different cool abilities that made kicking each other's asses even easier and more fun!"
Natsuyo blinked, scrunching her brow. "That's… actually… kinda cool!"
"See! It was my idea, by the way!" Naruto announced, puffing out his chest before admitting that, "Shinrai made all of the rules, though…"
"I see!" she said with a laugh. "Well, I guess… we never did anything like that? We were just raised with training and Shinobi-hood and that's pretty much it."
Naruto huffed. "That sucks."
"Well, you wasted so much time playing that I ended up being stronger than you!" Natsuyo countered with a sly grin.
Naruto gave her a competitive glare. "Hey! Y'know! The moment I finish this jutsu, even Lady Scary Hokage's going to be shaking in her boots!"
Natsuyo cackled. "My mother?! Scared of you?!" she laughed even harder, losing her focus completely as her hands fell out of the tiger seal.
With fire in his eyes, Naruto weaved a hand seal. "Transform!"
A puff of smoke filled the room and all of a sudden, a bark and a growl made Natsuyo's soul jump out of her skin. From the smoke, a yellow fox's head bit at Natsuyo, growling and glaring with azure eyes.
Horror filled her for all of two seconds before she gave Naruto the most deadpanned look in the world. "That wasn't funny."
The transformation broke and Naruto was left howling with humor on the floor.
"I'm serious!"
All Naruto did was keep laughing.
Natsuyo couldn't find anymore words so she just growled, going back to doing whatever she was doing with the Tiger Seal.
Finally, Naruto managed to catch his breath, wiping a tear from his eye. "What're… you… doing?"
Natsuyo didn't answer.
"Hey?"
Nothing.
"Oh C'mon! It was a harmless prank! All I did was scare you!"
Not a word out of her.
Naruto groaned. "Fine… I'm sorry for spooking you, even though it was funny as all hell."
Natsuyo gave him an unamused look, staying silent.
"Sorry for spooking you!"
"Say it wasn't funny."
Naruto shook his head. "But it was!"
Again, Natsuyo went silent.
With his hands dragging down his face, Naruto admitted that, "It wasn't funny…"
After that, Natsuyo smiled at him. "I'm warming up my chakra, literally…"
"So that's why it's so hot in here!" Naruto pointed a finger. "It's you!"
"Yeah! It's gonna make practicing my Scorch Release easier!"
"Ah! That makes a lot of sense," Naruto said, nodding his head along to her.
Natsuyo nodded in kind. "I've basically been doing it since I woke up."
"Damn, first thing?"
"Mhm! I'm not going to waste a second if I'm going to have to fulfill my goal!"
Naruto grinned at her. "I'm right with you! What is your goal?"
Her demeanor changed, she clenched her hand into the Tiger Seal even harder. The room's temperature rose as she sighed. It was as if her very face became solid fire, fire as hard as rock as she looked up at the ceiling. Despite that, her smile didn't change one bit.
Naruto was almost… mesmerized by it. Especially because it almost looked like his own face when he looked in the mirror.
"You… saw that happened to Konoha after the invasion, right?" she asked calmly.
A bit of a frown curled Naruto's lips. "Of course I did…"
"I want to make sure something like that… never happens again. I need to be great enough to make sure nobody even thinks about attacking my home again. I'll just have to… be the sun." Her voice was clear and it somehow was able to shine. "Protect everyone I want to… and burn everyone who's a threat."
Naruto showed her his signature grin and put his hands behind his head. "That's a really great goal!"
"Thanks!" Natsuyo looked him right in the eyes as she asked, "What about you? Why do you want to become Hokage?"
"I got sick of everybody looking down on me! So I'll become Hokage to give them no choice but to look up at me and how great I am!" Naruto answered without missing a beat.
Natsuyo laughed. "Yeah… I get that. It kinda used to be mine? But then… I reached it. Gosei definitely doesn't look down on me anymore. Then I saw all of the destruction, and realized how dumb my goal seemed in comparison to… everything else."
"You calling my goal dumb?"
"What?! No!" Natsuyo claimed. "I'm calling myself dumb. Er, me from two weeks ago." Naruto just looked at her while Natsuyo let out an uncomfortable laugh. "Why does everybody look down on you…? Really?"
Naruto frowned again. "Y'know…" He pointed to the whiskers on his face.
"Ah… that makes sense, I suppose."
Naruto nodded along, starting to frown sheepishly. "I'm surprised you don't like… hate my guts after what happened."
"Well yeah, it wasn't you," Natsuyo said as if it was obvious. "But I would be lying if I said I'm not apprehensive about fighting alongside you now."
A hammer of shame slammed into Naruto's gut. "Ah…"
"Well, you're working on it, right?"
"Of course I am!"
"Then knowing you, I won't have to be worried for long," Natsuyo said, smiling brightly at him.
Immediately, Naruto grinned in kind, a soaring warmth in his chest made it even wider than it usually was. "Hell yeah you won't!"
As he immediately went to work on his seal, Naruto started to think that maybe sharing a room with her wouldn't be so bad. Actually, it was sounding quite good!
Natsuyo was cool.
She was really really really cool.
And Naruto liked cool people.
Shortly after, there was a knock on the door. Both Naruto and Natsuyo's attention shot toward it.
"Hey?!"
"Hello?"
"Am I interrupting anything?!" asked Jiraiya through the door.
"No?!" They both answered.
The door unlocked. "Okay good," Jiraiya muttered as he walked in, with weird red face paint on him.
"How did you unlock the door?! You don't have a key!" questioned Naruto.
Jiraiya gave him a blank stare. "Kid, you can't pick a lock with your own chakra?"
"No…?"
Natsuyo's silence gave her answer away clearly.
"How are you two even Shinobi?" mumbled Jiraiya as he face-palmed.
"Because I can kick ass!"
"Yeah! What he said!"
Jiraiya rolled his eyes. "I would give you two lectures, but we're short on time. And for once, I have nothing but good news!"
"You found Shinrai?!" Naruto shot up, desperation and joy in his eyes.
Jiraiya nodded. "Mhm! Lady Fifth and I sensed him and that other girl you spoke of heading back to Konoha. We also didn't sense Orochimaru… which means he is either not in the Land of Fire or dead."
Naruto cheered. "YEAH! I knew Shinrai could do it!"
"How…?" Natsuyo asked with disbelief.
Jiraiya shrugged. "You can ask him when we get back to Konoha. But, before that, we have to go find Tsunade! If we leave now and go at a reasonable pace, we'll be able to reach her by nightfall."
This time, it was Natsuyo cheering. A heatwave soared and Naruto yelped as his skin was burned by the heat of the air. "Finally! I can't wait!"
Jiraiya took a step back out of the oven that Natsuyo was turning the room into. "Yeah yeah! So hurry up and get ready so we can head out."
Just that, both Naruto and Natsuyo did.
—
The crows in the sky gave Dantai pause. For fuck's sake… he hated those birds. They made themself so damned apparent in the height of day. But, some damned birds weren't his focus. What was his focus was finding that Sharingan thief. That was a joke. Dantai knew Obito while he was alive and he was… cool enough?!
Miruni always thought he was pathetic, but Dantai couldn't help but have a bit of a soft spot for the kid. Like, he was so nice! Losing him was a shame. Kakashi seemed to do his legacy… well enough? He wasn't some bastion of kindness—
Dantai's ears caught a roar from a crowd. They were… cheering Kakashi's name?! Well, that spared him the trouble of tracking Kakashi down! Without a second thought, Dantai flickered over. After seeing exactly what Kakashi had done, it wasn't hard to see why there was cheering.
The Man With A Thousand Jutsu was putting that arsenal to use. His Earth Style had formed an entire pool of cement into hard bricks. It looked to be enough to build about three decently sized houses! That was actually really funny considering his plan.
With another flicker, Dantai flickered next to Kakashi. "Yo! Long time no see Kakashi!"
The Copy Ninja was less phased than Dantai would've liked. "I heard you were alive… it's surreal seeing that it's true."
"Aw! I thought you would've been a bit more surprised!" Dantai whined playfully, throwing his arm around Kakashi's shoulder.
Kakashi grabbed Dantai's arm and lifted it off of him. "Hard to be surprised about something I already knew."
"This is why I hate when people spoil others…"
"I don't see how your return would be a… spoiler when you announce yourself wherever you go."
Dantai placed a finger to his own lips. "Shhh…"
Kakashi rolled his eye. "Well, what are you here for? To help? To continue your showmanship?"
"Kind of both? I see you have this area of Konoha down pat."
"I do."
"Are you about done?"
Kakashi scanned the crowd as they went to pick up bricks and start to organize him, placing them on housing foundations. "It seems so."
"Great!" Dantai's face lit up and he danced from beside Kakashi to in front of him. "I have an idea."
"Your ideas were never good."
"This one is, I swear!"
All Kakashi gave was a dubious nod.
"Okay, so… we've all been working hard, right?"
"Mhm…"
"But the person who's been working the hardest has to be our Hokage, don't 'ya think?!"
Kakashi took a minute to consider. "Probably."
"So… how about we show her… some appreciation?" After Dantai explained his plan in detail to Kakashi, it didn't take long for him to agree.
—
Night started to fall and Yosei could sense Tsunade even without the aid of Jiraiya's Sage Mode. Her Senjutsu mapping let her know that, of course, she was in a bar. Truly, truly, Yosei wanted to have faith that her cousin was able to climb over her own pathetic past and become what she was supposed to be.
The closer she got, the less faith she had, and the more Tsunade utterly infuriated her. That woman didn't deserve any space in her mind, she didn't deserve a life in Konoh—
Yosei took a deep breath. She would not let her emotions get the better of her. Not at all. Never… again. Instead, she directed her focus elsewhere. The Genin that accompanied her and Jiraiya.
Naruto seemed to have completed the Jutsu Formula he was working on, with Jiraiya nitpicking it. Gosei had obviously leapt past Natsuyo in their Lighting Release training, he had two Kunai in each hand which he was charging efficiently. Natsuyo still only had sparks flying out of a Shuriken. Both of her children were arguing about it… with Naruto disappointedly disconnected from the two, from Natsuyo.
Displeased, Yosei narrowed her eyes. "Jiraiya."
"Oh! One second Naruto!" called the Sannin before walking up to her. "Yes, Lady Fifth?"
"How long should the… romance take?" she asked, lowering her voice.
Jiraiya shrugged. "How am I supposed to know?"
"Because you are the expert, are you not?"
"I am! Which is why I can say that when you're trying to get two people to get together, nothing is guaranteed. All I can do is put them in situations that could result in romance, eventually. If they're not compatible, then they won't fall in love and that's out of our control.
"Love can't be forced, far from it. Only facilitated."
Yosei hummed, still displeased. "How far would you say the romance has developed thus far?"
"I can't say! They only started a day ago. I mean, they're getting along, so that's something at least."
Yosei let out a sigh. "I see…"
"Yep! That's all I can tell you with confidence."
"I appreciate your help thus far, Jiraiya."
The Sannin grinned. "Anytime, Lady Fifth!"
With that, the group had walked up to the bar where Yosei sensed Tsunade. Naruto looked mildly interested while Gosei and Natsuyo were obviously ecstatic. As their mother, she gave them both a serious look, catching their attention.
"Gosei, Natsuyo," she began. "Don't get your hopes up."
Another step and Yosei opened the door.
—
Gosei was surprised to find that his relative would be in a… bar of all places. Though, he shouldn't judge too harshly. Even his own mother used her Vine Release to grow herself a winery at home. Well, every Shinobi had their vices, and it shouldn't take away from their ability as a Shinobi. Gosei hadn't found his, and hopefully, he never will.
The bar his squad entered was lit brightly. Vibrant lights of blue, purple, and red flashed throughout the corners, with rows of red seats and tables placed like a maze with how inconsistent they were oriented. Gosei had half the mind to redesign the place himself.
But, there were more important matters to attend to. Immediately, both his mother and Lord Jiraiya set their eyes to the back of the bar. Two women were sat, and one matched the exact description of what he heard his mother describe Tsunade as. Blonde hair with a blue diamond-shaped mark on her forehead.
There was Lady Tsunade of the Sannin… sloppily chugging a bottle of beer. After she was finished, she let out an undignified belch before hitting her own chest with a grunt. She fit the description, and yet, she was exactly not how Gosei imagined her.
Despite his mother being the younger of the two, Lady Tsunade looked vastly younger than she did. On top of that her manners looked… poor. Very poor.
Gosei already began to understand the statement his mother had uttered before walking in.
Even though her behavior didn't show that, Lady Tsunade was still a Shinobi. Her eyes locked on them the near moment they entered. Immediately, she groaned, slamming her head into the table with a loud thud.
Natsuyo had a measured excitement that only he knew the true depths of. Naruto was mildly curious. But… Gosei didn't think he ever saw his mother so… disdainful. Lord Jiraiya, however, took the first move, walking toward Lady Tsunade and the other woman beside her. Naruto followed behind him quickly, Natsuyo scurrying alongside him. His mother took longer than Gosei thought to step forward. Of course, Gosei followed behind her.
Jiraiya made sure to sit directly facing Tsunade as he greeted her with a measured smile. "Tsunade! Long time no see! How've you been?"
"Why the fuck are you here?" she asked, ignoring his greeting entirely. She didn't care for Naruto who sat beside him, or Natsuyo who sat by Naruto. However, she gave a lethal looking side-eye to Yosei as she sat next. Gosei uneasily sat beside his mother.
"What?! I can't say hi to an old teammate?" Jiraiya said with a laugh.
Tsunade rolled her eyes. "If you were just saying hi, then she—"she pointed at Yosei—"Wouldn't be here!"
"Is it a problem that I am, Tsunade?" Yosei inquired, an edge as sharp as the thorns of her moniker to her voice.
The woman beside Tsunade squirmed with uneasiness. Gosei almost wanted to follow her example.
Tsunade groaned and glared at Yosei. "Just tell me what you want so I can tell you to fuck off!"
Yosei glared, but Jiraiya spoke, putting his hand on the table. "Okay! Since it's a shame that you don't want to catch up, I'll just lay it to you straight. We need you."
"Uh huh…" Tsunade said, obviously disinterested.
"Konoha was invaded by Orochimaru; we have so many injured that we can not deal with them all effectively. People are dying because we don't have enough healers to help. We need you to stop our village from collapsing," Jiraiya explained.
Tsunade nodded slowly at him. "Uh huh… that sounds like it sucks. Sorry that happened."
"Will you come or not Tsunade?" asked Yosei, patience thinning by the second.
Tsunade shrugged, burping once again. "Eh?! You all were fine after the Kyuubi's attack, you didn't need me! How could Orochimaru do more than the fucking Kyuubi?!"
"It wasn't just Orochimaru," Jiraiya pushed. "He enlisted the help of three hidden villages. Suna, Kumo, Iwa, even his own minor village as well as Kusa! Multiple Jinchuriki were present to wreak havoc. Including Killer Bee."
"...and you all are still here?!"
"I battled Killer Bee," Yosei interjected.
"And you're alive?!"
"I'm not you."
Tsunade glared. "The fuck is that supposed to mean?!"
Yosei glared in kind. "I'm not the pathetic kind to let myself waste into nothing."
"Hey," Jiraiya said. "Let's keep this civil—"
"Shut the fuck up Jiraiya!" Tsunade got in Yosei's face and everybody besides Jiraiya leaned away from the ensuing altercation. A dire finger was pointed at Yosei's face, but she was unphased. "Listen here. You don't get to say a god damn thing about me because you don't know a god damn thing about me!"
Calmly, Yosei grabbed Tsunade's finger and moved it out of her face. "I know enough. I've seen enough. I've seen you decay into a disgrace that does nothing but drag down everyone around you. Everybody you have once loved looks down on you with disgust."
"What do you know?! Nothing! That's what! You don't know how it feels! You can't know! You're just a heartless bitch that never loved a damned thing in her life!"
At that point Gosei narrowed his eyes on Tsunade. She dares to speak to her own family that way?!
Tsunade snarled and Yosei kept an even glare. "If your own kids died, would you even give a damn?"
"If they died, then I would do anything in my power to make that loss mean something. Unlike you. The deaths of both Dan and Nawaki mean nothing because of you."
Tsunade grabbed her by the collar and pulled Yosei until her forehead slammed into hers. "You take that back… right fucking now."
"You, get your hand off of me," Yosei ordered, the most controlled fury imaginable held behind her eyes.
"Not until you take it back!"
"As your Hokage, you will unhand me, and then you will return to Konoha to heal every injured until you drop. Am I understood?"
Tsunade paused, furrowing her brow. "Hokage? You're the fucking Hokage?!"
"I am. And you listen to me."
"...What happened to Sarutobi-sensei?"
"He sacrificed his life to end Orochimaru's invasion," Jiraiya answered.
Tsunade went silent, just… staring down. Her grip became weak enough for Yosei to get herself out. After what seemed like an eternity of nothing from Tsunade… she laughed. As a matter of fact, she started to cackle. "Of course! Of course!"
"What's so funny…?" asked Jiraiya, measured in his tone.
"Of course Yosei would be the perfect kind of fool to become the Hokage!" Tsunade was starting to wipe a tear from her eye.
Fool? questioned Gosei, clenching his fist as his brow raised.
"Y'know? They used to try and call sensei the God of Shinobi!" Tsunade began. "He was almost the perfect Shinobi! Then he just threw his life away for nothing. Both of you still came crawling back to me because Konoha's still destroyed. It's pathetic!"
She continued her drunken rant with a snort. "They said the same thing about Minato and he still ended up dying for a village that was already fucked by the Kyuubi. Old uncle Tobirama just ended up dying to save a squad of worthless Shinobi that were going to die anyway. Even my grandfather! He had the most worthless end of them all! He died because he pissed off the Bijuu!"
Gosei clenched his fists and hard. She dares to talk down about the position of Hokage while have barely been in the village in years?!
"You noticing a pattern? Yosei, you wanna call me pathetic but you'll be eating your fucking words the moment you die as worthlessly as your predecessors. The Hokage's a fool's errand…there's nothing more to it than that."
Gosei had enough.
"HOW DARE YOU?!" he and Naruto roared as they stood in tandem. The two boys met eyes for all of a millisecond before turning their joint righteous rage at Tsunade.
"You're related to multiple Hokage and yet you don't know the first thing about the position!" Gosei spat.
"I won't let you ramble about dumb shit and insult Lord Fourth, Old Man Third, or any Hokage for that matter!" Naruto cracked his knuckles at Tsunade.
"Especially when you don't have the right!" Gosei slammed his fists on the wooden table. "You know nothing of loyalty when you abandon the village, you don't know what it means to sacrifice! You have no Will of Fire!"
"And I don't give a damn if you're a lady of whatever! I'll slug you right in the god damn face if you keep talking shit about the Hokage! You're gonna show them the respect they deserve, believe it!" Naruto announced, standing on the table to get in Tsunade's face.
Yosei allowed a smirk to cross her face. "Are you going to let two Genin speak more intelligently than you?"
Tsunade grumbled then glared at Naruto. "Who the fuck even is this brat?!"
"My name is Naruto Uzumaki! And I'm going to be the next Hokage, so you better remember it!" Naruto declared.
Gosei sucked his teeth. "Incorrect! I am going to be the next Hokage!"
The two boy's eyes radiated conflict between the two for a good few seconds before they turned back on Tsunade. She was caught off guard by the declaration of Hokage before gathering herself. Jiraiya looked about ready to rip his hair out while Gosei didn't think he ever saw Natsuyo look so… done? Out of it? Whatever. He'd deal with her later.
Tsunade shook her head. "The kids you brought have some damned nerve… talking to me like that to my face. Let's bring this outside."
Naruto and Gosei immediately followed Tsunade outside the bar.
The woman that accompanied Tsunade immediately bowed to Yosei, Jiraiya, and Natsuyo. "I am so sorry for Lady Tsunade! I fear she may have had too much to drink tonight."
"No need, Shizune," Yosei said. "This is exactly what I was expecting."
"Yeah! I'm used to taking flack from her!" Jiraiya said next, laughing it off.
Natsuyo stayed uncharacteristically silent.
Outside of the bar, Gosei held his staff, glaring while Naruto clenched his fists an azure gaze of ire toward Tsunade.
On the other hand, Tsunade had a haughty smirk with a glint of malice in her drunken eyes. "Despite my looks, I'm still one of the Legendary Sannin! I won't need more than a finger to kick both of your asses."
"Bring it!" Gosei and Naruto roared before charging.
It was then when Gosei remembered that he was injured. His side felt like it ripped itself back open. All he took was a limp with his staff before snarling through the pain. Naruto tried to attack Tsunade but with a single finger, his kunai was disarmed and flung into the air alongside his headband.
Gosei split the earth with his staff, trying to trip Tsunade up. All she did was sidestep, using her finger to throw Naruto into the divide. Gritting his teeth, Gosei made a wheel of water that he flung at Tsunade, off his staff. One finger burst the water into mist.
Dammit! Despite everything, she lives up to the title of the Slug Sannin! I should've thought twice before battling her!
From the split earth, Naruto leapt up, a clone assisting him as an orange ball of chakra whirred in his hand.
Tsunade's eyes went wide. "That Jutsu—?"
"RASENGAN!" Naruto's second clone flung him toward Tsunade at speeds that Gosei could barely perceive, but it obviously seemed slow to her. A flick to Naruto's forehead mid air sent him flying in an arc toward… him.
Naruto collapsed onto Gosei and both of them fell apart like a house of cards.
Ignoring the groaning Genin, Tsunade looked toward Jiraiya incredulously. "Jiraiya?! What made you think it was a good idea to teach a Genin the Rasengan?!"
"Hey! It was Miya's idea! I just helped!" Jiraiya defended himself with his hands raised.
Tsunade shook her head as the two Genin got up. "Just give up already! Especially you!" She pointed at Gosei. "You're already injured!"
"Hell no!"
"Over my dead body!"
Naruto shook his fist at Tsunade. "Give me three days and I'll have a Jutsu that'll make you use all ten fingers and toes! Believe it!"
"As well I!" Gosei boasted, knowing damn well that he didn't.
"I believe… I have something that already will!" Natsuyo declared, finally speaking up. There was a determination in her eyes Gosei hadn't even seen against himself. She weaved three hand signs, golden balls of sun rotated around her like summer petals.
Tsunade furrowed her brow. "A Fused Godai?"
With a roar, Natsuyo belted her personal suns at Tsunade. The Sannin didn't move. She didn't move because she knew they'd fizzle out before even reaching her.
After that… Tsunade laughed. She laughed and hard. Natsuyo looked as if her world had just been shattered like glass. "Why did you two even bring these kids?! This is hilarious! Were they supposed to help convince me with their talent?! Show me the next generation?! What a bunch of horseshit!"
"Don't forget what I said!" Naruto roared, standing up while Gosei continued to struggle.
Tsunade rolled her eyes. "Okay kid. How about we make a bet?"
Jiraiya rubbed his eyes. "For fuck's sake…"
"I'll give you a week. All of you! If any of you can make me use more than one finger then fuck it! I'll go back to Konoha and heal, then I'm right back out. If one of you somehow manages to make me use all ten like Naruto here says… then I'll go back to Konoha permanently," Tsunade declared.
Naruto laughed. "A week?! Oh damn you're in for it now."
Tsunade opened her mouth to speak but Jiraiya walked between to interject. "Hey! Now that sounds like a great idea!" He grabbed Naruto and turned his back, smiling at Tsunade. "Now how about we all go home and stop all of these bad vibes, y'know?"
With a sigh, Tsunade rolled her eyes. "Alright, see you in a week." With that, Tsunade and Shizune walked off down the road. Gosei, Naruto, Natsuyo, Yosei, and Jiraiya were left to themselves.
Silence reigned.
Naruto broke it.
"Well let's get to training so we can beat this Old Lady's ass! Believe it!"
—
What really sucked was that Naruto had to sleep. Well, technically—Natsuyo's loud groan knocked him out of that train of thought. Obviously, she was unhappy. She looked about ready to burn down the room that they shared!
"Hey!" Naruto called with his jovial smile, taking on a comforting edge that he copied from Shinrai. "Maybe you can have all the pillows tonight? Like, I slept on the floor just fine last night, y'know?"
As she sat on the bed, she gave him a dry look. "It's fine…"
"I can tell it's not. Just take the damned pillows!" Naruto took the three pillows and flung them at Natsuyo.
With her hand, she smacked them away. "Don't patronize me!"
"I'm just being nice?!" Naruto groaned. "Weren't you just complaining that 'I wasn't treating you like a woman' yesterday?! Now I'm being nice and you're complaining again?!"
Natsuyo glared at him. "You're only doing that because I'm mad!"
"Yeah?! You're supposed to be nice to people when they don't feel well!"
"You're supposed to be nice to people all the time!"
"No shit! But you have to be extra nice when they don't feel well!"
Natsuyo went to yell something back, but she just screamed into her hands.
Ugh! No! Shinrai told me how weird girls are when they don't feel well! I have to be careful… Naruto gulped and narrowed his eyes. …What would Shinrai do?
A flash to years prior… It was just another day. Another day meant that Naruto was kicked out of another store. The toy that he brought with his own hard money was broken. He ran home crying. Shinrai was there. The first thing he did was give him a hug and ask him…
"What got you sad? Do you wanna talk about it?"
Naruto didn't think a hug was the best idea. They barely knew each other. But, everything else… "Uh… do you wanna talk about it?"
"Talk about what?"
"What has you so mad? Y'know…"
Natsuyo gave him a dubious look. "Excuse me?"
"I mean! That's what Shinrai always did with me! Talking about what makes me sad or mad makes me feel better about it!" To think that Shinrai snuck into the library to steal books about mental health just to help Naruto so long ago… "But, yeah! Talking helps!"
"Really? I just… burn things when I get fed up."
Naruto shrugged. "Yeah, that works too. I beat the shit out of Shinrai a lot to let off steam."
Natsuyo snickered. "Beating up Gosei does sound fun…" her eyes turned to Naruto. "Or you."
Crossing his arms, Naruto huffed. "That's not what I'm offering!"
"Urgh, yeah, it's late anyway. Mother wouldn't be happy…"
"Yeah! Which is why talking is better! Right now, at least. You have a whole week to train, y'know."
"Mhm…" Natsuyo let out a sigh. "I guess I'll talk to you about it. Just… seems weird. Mother and Father always told me to just deal with it."
"Damn."
"I guess I just… really looked up to Lady Tsunade. And she's just this…" Natsuyo waved her hands incoherently before throwing them up and groaning. "I don't even know what to call her!"
"A bitch," Naruto suggested.
Natsuyo gasped, "That's rude!"
"Is it wrong?! Slug granny is rude too!"
"Yeah…" Natsuyo clenched her fists and her rage fueled her resolve. "Yeah! Lady Tsunade is a bitch. I looked up to who I thought she was! I know Mother told me not to get my hopes up but it was too late! It's terrible! I don't even know what to think! Lady Tsunade is just the biggest lie ever!
"And then when I tried to prove myself I just fell flat! It was mortifying! Ugh! I failed in front of two Sannin! Is Mother secretly terrible too?! Everything just feels like a lie and I want to just burn it down! Burn down every lie in the world! I hate lies!" Natsuyo stopped herself from screaming out loud before she grabbed a pillow and screamed into that. It looked like she was used to this.
Natsuyo seemed to be out of rant juice and she let out a sigh, looking a bit more relaxed. Again, Naruto… couldn't really help but see himself in her, again.
"I get what you feel." He let out a heavy sigh as memories of his last interaction with Shinrai reigned in his head. "I don't really feel like talking about it though…"
"Didn't you just say that talking about it helps?" asked Natsuyo with a raised brow. "It did really help me to talk, so why not talk too? If you know it helps you?"
That gave Naruto pause. The only person he ever really talked to was Shinrai. Talking to anyone else felt kind of weird, well, Ms. Miya seemed alright, though. But never would he have considered Natsuyo.
Though it wouldn't be fair for her to share and not share himself. Finally, he spoke. "When the Fusion Seal is used on another person, they share every memory they have with each other. I thought that Shinrai would never lie to me or hide things from me.
"When we fused, I saw his memories… it turned out he hid everything. To make sure I was happy and safe, he forced himself to hide every bad thing that ever happened to him. He pretended to always be happy and available when he wasn't." Naruto's fists clenched hard. "I hate that… so much. Nobody should have to hurt like that for me, especially Shinrai! He lied about so much and the fact that it was for me, that it was my fault makes it so much worse." It just made Naruto sick, even still.
"Finding that out hurt more than anything the villagers ever did. It made me question a lot too… but it really came down to the fact that the person I love the most is just a liar."
Natsuyo nodded, face a bit somber as she listened to Naruto. "Just like how someone I truly looked up to is just a bitch."
Naruto snorted. "Yeah…"
A surprisingly comfortable silence came between the two. Mutual understanding was like a blanket that killed all tension that may have been in the room. It just… felt really nice.
It allowed him to think… kinda. The difference between Shinrai and Tsunade was that Naruto knew why Shinrai did everything he did. It didn't change that it was shitty, but Shinrai's actual reasons had… good intentions. To help him. He did. Despite how much he hated that fact, and what he did to help him.
Mayde Tsunade had a good reason for destroying herself, just like Shinrai. That was an answer he was going to get… tomorrow. Naruto made sure to give Natsuyo two pillows, keeping one for himself as he went to sleep.
—
Danzo had finalized the Chunin Promotions… without her input. Granted, it wasn't Miya's duty to promote the Genin or not, but a showing of respect as two people running a village together would've been nice. Miya had no idea how Kakashi and Ryu worked under him for so long.
The promotions that Miya had been assigned to give were… Neji Hyuuga and Shinrai Uzumaki. She knew of Shinrai's beforehand, and she didn't doubt for a second that Neji deserved his vest. However, she still thought that Lee deserved his vest just as much as those two. Danzo was simply just… too narrow minded to fully see his promotion.
At least Yosei would be returning within two days, and she'd be out of this damned position.
Just as the thought crossed her mind, a toad leapt onto her desk. Obviously, Jiraiya had a message for her. The toad opened its mouth to deliver a scroll with its tongue. Used to this, she grabbed the scroll without a second thought. Jiraiya's handwriting.
Hey Miya! Sorry, but due to complications on the mission to retrieve Tsunade, we'll be out for another week. Have fun with the Hokage hat!
Keeping her composure, she nodded at the toad. It went away into a cloud of smoke. Once Miya was alone, she groaned and let her forehead slam on the wooden desk below her. Dammit! In her despair, Miya drawled her eyes outside of the window over Konoha.
A flock of crows soared over the dark rebuilding village, barely visible in the night. Considering how Konoha looked a mere few days prior, the progress that was made was incredible. If she could contribute to this anymore… then perhaps holding the hat for seven more days wasn't a bad idea.
With a sigh, she gathered herself and got back to her work. Her good work.
—
It didn't take too much deliberation for Ryujin to realize that the four questions of the first Koan he read were all asking the same thing, pretty much. What they were asking, despite it seeming obvious, was the complete opposite of that. Ryujin didn't have one damned idea.
"The hell are you thinking about?" asked Dantai as the two strolled through the semi-repaired village.
Ryujin grunted, keeping his hand stuffed in his pockets. "Don't worry about it."
"C'mon! I was just as high ranked as you were. There are no secrets between us~"
Ryujin sighed. "Philosophical questions—"
"AND YOU WERE HIDING THAT FROM ME?!" Dantai gasped with appal and offense. "Tell me."
"I would prefer to figure it out on my own,' Ryujin grumbled.
Dantai rolled his eyes. "Fine! I just won't tell you my thoughts."
Ryujin side-eyed Dantai while Dantai gave him a cheeky grin. With a heavy sigh, Ryujin spoke. "Who is it that repeats the Sage's name? Who is dragging this corpse about? What is this? What is it? What was the original face before my father and mother were born? Who am I?"
Upon hearing, Dantai stopped in his tracks. "I have actually never heard of that one before."
"Really?" Ryujin raised his brow. "I just found a book of these laying around in the library."
"What is it called?"
"Just look for anything with 'Koans' in the title and you should find this. Though… the only one I found, I'm using."
Dantai gave him puppy dog eyes. "...Share?"
"I'm not inclined to."
"But if you're stuck on one then I can do the others in the mean time!"
"Meh."
"You're such a fucking meanie."
All Ryujin did was shrug.
Dantai groaned. "Fine! Play how you want." Silence fell between the two as they continued walking.
Because Dantai was who he was, it didn't last for long. He gave Ryujin an almost devilish look. "Y'know how your life is shit?"
Of course, the question ruffled Ryujin's feathers. He didn't give it an answer.
"Yeah! You do know! So… who do you blame for it?"
Now… that was a question. Looking down, narrowing his eyes as dawn broke, he thought. Orochimaru was the first person on his mind. Miya was there as well, though nowhere near as strongly. Though… one seemed to be a common factor in every aspect besides the Kyuubi attack, which was a freak accident… somehow.
But, above all, there was one common factor in every shit part of his life. "Myself," answered Ryujin. "I blame myself above all."
Dantai gave him an incredulous look. "Huh why?!"
"If I had simply… been better, been stronger, been more powerful, been smarter, been sharper, been faster, acted quicker, been more resilient… then I would be in a better space. No matter what happens, I will always be to blame for how I handled it.
"Things happen out of my control; things are supposed to happen. It's on me for not being able to handle it correctly."
"That… is interesting," Dantai muttered. He put his thumb on his chin with his index on his nose. "Technically, it's not… wrong… but at the same time, it's… too small. Like, are you going to blame Naruto for having the Kyuubi sealed inside of him?"
"That's different. He hadn't even been alive for an hour, what the hell was he supposed to do?"
"And what were you expected to do, a Jonin, supposed to do against a Bijuu? The Kyuubi, at that. I will give you the fact that because of your Jinchuriki-ness, you probably would have caught Orochimaru earlier and maybe even have killed him had you tried a bit harder.
"But that's not considering an important factor…" Dantai's amber eyes seemed to gain a temporary crimson hue as his chakra flared. "The human mind. The imperfect spirit that guides us all. Just like a body, it can be damaged. But unlike the body, we don't have nearly enough specialized healing to take care of it, do we?"
Dantai walked ahead of Ryujin and stopped, not breaking eye contact at all. "Now, are you going to blame a Shinobi with a broken leg for not being able to fight at his best?"
Ryujin knew where he was going with it and he despised it. He couldn't get himself to answer, so Dantai did for him. "Of course you won't. By that logic, it would be wrong to blame the Ryujin with a crippled mind for not being able to fight at full capacity, hm?"
The broken eye contact felt like shattering glass as Ryujin whipped his head to the side. Just as fast, Dantai was still there. Dantai did not let it break. Ryujin glared. "The fuck are you trying to say?!"
"Oh! You know exactly what I'm trying to say." Dantai grinned, starting to giggle before taking a break to collect his composure. "So, if you can't really blame yourself for it, then… who do you blame? How about we blame who broke you? Who broke you Ryujin?"
Ryujin finally met Dantai's gaze with the same intensity. What the hell was Dantai trying to get at?! "Orochimaru. The Kyuubi…" The final name was harder to say than he thought. "Miya."
"But I would go as far as to say, why blame them?"
A snarl curled Ryujin's lips. "The hell?!"
"No, no, hear me out!" Dantai held up his hands. "When you're sick, what do you blame for making you feel unwell? The cough or the cold?"
It felt like Dantai was another Koan for Ryujin to try and decipher. "The cold… the cough is a symptom."
"EXACTLY!" Dantai yelled, eyes lighting up like the sun as a grin soared across his face. "Exactly. Orochimaru's despicable nature, the Kyuubi's capture, and Miya's pain… all of which have hurt you, are symptoms. Symptoms of what? What do all of these things have in common, Ryujin?"
He was… at a loss. Was the question rhetorical—?
"The Shinobi System we are all under." The statement was like a hammer to the tone of the conversation. "What is to blame is the Shinobi System. Not even the one that the Shodai created, but even before that! The Warring States, The time of Kingdoms, and even going back to ancient history.
"As long as Shinobi have existed, so has the pain of humanity! All of your pain, my pain, everybody's pain and those who have caused it… it's all a symptom of the plague of the Shinobi System. So, instead of blaming the symptoms, blame the plague."
Stunned into a temporary silence, Ryujin tightened his jaw and thought. To blame what he dedicated his life to for all of his pain. Well, Dantai wasn't… wrong, exactly. It was just… foreign. It didn't sit right with him, not in who he was.
"And… what do you want me to do with this… blame?" he asked, narrowing his eyes on Dantai.
His entire demeanor shifted from a manic seriousness to his usual loose, jovial manner. "Eh! That's for you to figure out. Think of it as like another question to your Koan thingy."
"...All right," muttered Ryujin, shaking his head.
Dantai grinned at him, that obnoxious fucking grin. It almost made him think of Shinrai of all people.
Too many questions weighed in Ryujin's mind as he walked with Dantai into the rising sun.
—
Kusari's training with the Dead Bone Pulse was going well. Sasuke was resilient enough for her to gain a decent enough amount of experience. Before long, she'd be ready to rebuild the Hyuuga Clan with her own body. Unfortunately, their morning training for today had to be cut short by the fact that she was summoned to the Hokage's Office.
Before truly making her way there, Kusari made herself look presentable. She doubted it was anything urgent considering that she was the one called. To Konoha, she was just another Genin… for now.
But, that didn't change the fact that she had to arrive in a timely manner. Within ten minutes, Kusari had knocked on the door of the Acting Hokage, Miya Uzumaki.
"Enter."
With that, Kusari did as the Hokage said. Even she could see the slightest twinge of disdain on Miya's face at the sight of her. Kusari disliked that. She wanted to fix that. Considering her relationship with Hinata, and the fact that she recently lost a student…
It did not seem likely.
Kusari let out a sigh as she bowed. "What am I needed for?"
Without saying a word, Miya grabbed a Chunin Vest from the neat stack to her left. At a glance, Kusari counted two. "This."
Standing back up to her full height, Kusari asked, "Have I been promoted?" A dash of hope flew across her face as a shine of joy sparkled in her eye. Kusari even found herself about to smile. A Chunin promotion would do wonders for—
"No," Miya denied flatly.
It felt like an anvil had just fallen upon Kusari's head.
"I came to the decision that your brother, Neji Hyuuga, deserved a promotion to Chunin. Unfortunately, he is incapacitated. As his closest living relative, you must deliver the news of his promotion to him once he is able to accept it."
A wince slashed across Kusari's face. "I see…"
The slightest bit of sympathy crossed Miya's face. It was short, but it was there. Ever-present was that disdain, caution, and just… dislike. It was Kusari's own actions against Hinata that led to such a great woman—according to Shinrai, at least—disliking her. Hate even? That was a strong word.
Kusari swallowed as she grabbed Neji's Chunin vest. She looked Miya in the eyes. An apathetic amber looked at her the same way a brick wall would. "Have you… heard from Shinrai?" Kusari asked. Both genuinely and as a way to coax the dislike.
"I saw him leave Konoha unauthorized a few days ago. I tried to go after him but I was unable to catch up… I'm worried." She was.
Miya was obviously caught off guard. It took her a moment to gather herself from what seemed like whiplash. "I have not."
Even Kusari could tell that there was an underlying dread to her tone. Emotions swelled within Kusari, worry, frustration, and stronger variants of both expanded—for all of two seconds Kusari felt as if she was going to pop.
Of course, she didn't. They went back down with a hard swallow.
"I see. Thank you." Kusari stepped back. "Am I dismissed?"
"You are."
Kusari turned her back and exited the Hokage's Office.
—
Shinrai didn't feel like Shinrai anymore. The warm hug of his chakra was… gone. All Karin felt being near him were glacial daggers. His demeanor changed as well. Nothing about him was happy, excited, not even angry or bitter. He had as much expression as a brick. Feeling him, having his glacial daggers pierce every inch of her, had her stomach churn within her like cancer.
She ruined him.
Shinrai was dead.
Karin had killed him.
Despite having escaped Orochimaru, Shinrai's fires were extinguished and not even the coals had any heat. It felt like her Curse had overtaken her—everything inside of her was dying too. After everything she did, after everything she fucking did Shinrai still saved her. Could he have rescued Baiko had he left her to die? Why didn't he try to find out?
She wasn't worth saving. She wasn't worth life. Nothing about her was worth anything. She didn't deserve the second chance that Shinrai had sacrificed everything for. The only reason she wanted to live was to make Shinrai's sacrifice worth something. Because Karin was who she was, it still meant nothing.
There was nothing she could do to make herself mean anything.
They traveled for hours, non-stop. Not a single break, unlike when they trailed Orochimaru. Just straight travel. As it turned out, healing a decapitated head took most of her reserves. She was running off fumes by the time they arrived in Konoha.
It was ironic how… hopeful the village felt. The combined fire of production and direction made Konoha live up to its placement in the Land of Fire. All she could think was how much better Shinrai's fire was… and how it was gone.
Because of her.
"We're… going to the Hokage's office. I have to report in," Shinrai stated, voice like a flatline heartbeat.
Stiffly, Karin nodded. "Didn't your Hokage die?"
"Someone has to run the village… I'll talk to whoever's there."
"Okay."
Silence as they entered the village. So much rebuilding was in so many places… the fires were hotter as she entered. How could a people who had their home decimated have such hope? Was this the Will of Fire that Konoha boasted to have? In the short time that Karin was gone, Konoha already looked massively better than it did before.
Honestly, it made her want to laugh. It was just… ridiculous. Such a feeling was so fictional despite her sensing it personally. It didn't feel real because it was impossible for her to feel it herself. It was ridiculous that Shinrai had thought her capable.
Walking inside and to the Hokage's Tower didn't take too long once they were in Konoha. A powerful chakra resided at the top, with reserves that dwarfed both hers and Shinrai's. It was unbreakable as Adamantine with a loving heart of beating fire within it… the heart was also tarnished—ripped. Its bloody fire spewed everywhere on the inside.
Miya Uzumaki… Karin realized. As she was about to tell Shinrai, he had already opened the door into the office.
A loud gasp echoed throughout the mostly empty room. "Shinrai!" Miya's chakra belted out with love, heat, and relief that filled the room. The hug she felt from it made Karin guard herself. It felt too much like how Shinrai's once did.
Shinrai's chakra barely reacted at the sight of her. "I'm back…" The flat failure of enthusiasm sounded like a snapped twig.
Miya's eyes narrowed, her chakra focusing in on Shinrai. Quickly, she turned it to her. Karin looked down at the floor. "Who's she?"
"Karin Uzumaki," Shinrai answered. "I managed to rescue her from the Snake Sannin. She wants to join Konoha."
Miya's chakra went numb at the mention of Orochimaru. "The Snake Sannin?" The quivering alarm in her voice was impossible to hide.
Shinrai gave a short nod. "The Snake Sannin kidnapped her. She managed to escape during the invasion. She told me how the Snake Sannin was weakened, and how we could kill him. I took the chance."
Shinrai's fists clenched and the cold turned to frostbite. A frosty storm of shattered glass made Karin feel like she was being cut to ribbons. "So close. I was so close. But I failed. I barely made it out with her."
Not once did he mention her betrayal. It was like it never even happened. Karin just withered from the inside. Why…?
Hollow fear echoed in the unbreakable chamber of Miya's chakra. "Shinrai…" She shook her head. "Do you have any idea how…" The horror made Miya clasp her hands together at her desk. She took a deep, long, breath. "Do you know how lucky you are to be here?"
"I was making it out no matter what," Shinrai bit back. He tilted his head toward her. "She's the lucky one."
Karin pursed her lips, grabbing at her pockets.
Miya scowled. "Come here."
Shinrai followed and stood in front of the desk.
Fear, grief, dread, anxiety all flooded the room. With the power of her chakra, the emotions were suffocating. Karin felt crushed.
Miya grabbed Shinrai by the shoulders and pierced him with an Adamantine glare. "Don't you dare do anything so reckless again, do you understand me?"
Barely there, Shinrai nodded.
"Do you really? I could have lost you, Naruto would've lost you, everyone would have lost you."
"But nobody did. That's what matters."
"Shinrai," Miya scolded.
He barely reacted, just letting out a sigh. "I'm sorry."
Miya was about to scold him again, but she shook her head. Worry whirled the heavy presence in the room like a hurricane. She put her hands on Shinrai's head and made him look her in the eyes.
Silence as she peered into his eyes. The longer she looked, the faster the storm of chakra whirled. "Shinrai, what happened?"
"I can tell you in the mission report."
Miya's face broke for a second before she repaired it. "Okay."
She let go of Shinrai and he stepped back. With a sigh, Miya looked to Karin and she felt her world freeze. "I'm sorry you had to go through torture under the Snake Sannin. I can assure you that we as Konoha will do everything in our power to keep you safe."
Miya gave her a warm smile. Again, there was that hug. It wasn't as intense, but, it was there. Karin wanted to hate it but she couldn't. "Welcome to Konoha, Karin Uzumaki."
"...Thank you," was all that she could muster.
Miya gave Karin a nod. "Write your mission reports and then you're dismissed."
Karin nodded in kind while Shinrai stood like a corpse. They left the room and Karin was left alone with Shinrai's snowstorm once again.
—
Writing the mission report didn't take long at all. It was only a matter of time before Shinrai led her home. According to Miya, he and Naruto's home was fully intact. He should've been happy, but it just washed into his brain. Nothing truly registered. Everything was locked in the functional part of his brain and didn't leave after that.
That was probably why everything felt so empty.
That was probably why everything was so cold.
Frost followed his steps like he was atop a mountain in winter. Chills guided his hand into the keyhole, as he unlocked his apartment. Ice bashed his arm as he pushed open the door. The home was… exactly how he left it, pretty much.
Naruto was on some bigshot mission to find a Sannin, just like he was. Shinrai hoped that Naruto took as long as possible and returned successfully. The thought of seeing his brother made the cold feel like frostbite.
With a sigh, Shinrai walked in and made sure Karin followed. His eyes glazed over the details of his home. Karin shut the door behind them both. "You'll sleep in my room," Shinrai said with his echo-chamber tone. "I'll sleep in Naruto's. Just… use everything that's mine, I don't really care. Make yourself comfortable. Sorry I don't have any girls' clothes, but something might fit in there."
Karin stifled a cry as she shook her head. "Stop—Why are you—?"
She could barely get the words out as she started sobbing again. "I…" Frustration gleamed from her growl. Shinrai didn't feel a thing looking at her sob anymore.
As the tears fell, she clasped at her heart. "Why are you being so kind—?! You know I don't deserve it. You know I don't—You know I'm worthless. You're not supposed to care!"
Shinrai gave her a blank stare as she sobbed. What could he even say at this point? She was hopeless. There was no getting her out of this shit. Even still… her tears stung like a dagger of numbness.
He hated it.
"Answer me Shinrai!" she pleaded, wiping the tears from her eyes.
He let out a ragged sigh. "It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter why I care. But, I do. I do—I do for some fucking reason. I want to be pissed. I want to despise you as much as I do Orochimaru but guess what?! I don't. I want to be hateful enough to keep tearing you apart until you finally die.
"I can't be. I can't hate you. No matter how hard I try. Hating you isn't even worth it. You don't deserve hate. You…" Shinrai gave up on speaking.
Karin just looked stunned. Her face burned with pain as she looked down. "I'm sorry."
How the hell was he supposed to respond to that? Did he forgive her? He didn't fucking know. All he could do was just… let his voice work. "I don't care. Go rest."
Her eyes shot wide. Without saying a word, she sped past him to his room and shut the door. It didn't take long for him to hear more crying.
Again, he couldn't feel a fucking thing.
—
The way… Naruto planned to use his power was something that intrigued the Kyuubi. It was something he hadn't as much as heard of from a Jinchuriki before. As for how much of his power he'd be able to use… that was to be seen. As a matter of fact, this brat as a whole was interesting. Through his thousands of years of life, he'd seen many of Ashura's Transmigrants. None of them truly embodied Ashura quite like Naruto did, that was for certain.
It barely made Kyuubi want to give Naruto a pass.
But of course… Hashirama Senju was also a transmigrant of Ashura. No human deserved his trust, that was for certain. All Kyuubi needed was to be free… free from this blasted cage that was Naruto Uzumaki.
Nibi's plan was still a work in progress. Her plan to share chakra with all Jinchuriki and cause a mass release. To weaken all of the human seals from the inside out with joint Bijuu chakra, breaking the seals, and allowing all of his siblings to be free, finally.
That was how he had his fun when Konoha was invaded. A shame that Naruto's bastard brother was able to stop him. It was almost impressive how well he was able to use Kyuubi Chakra for himself. The way he acted, the way he carried himself resembled the stories of Grandmother he heard from his father.
But… that was besides the point.
Kyuubi still had the chakra of Shukaku, Nibi, and Nanabi within the seal. It never went away, they all made sure of that. Gyuki had to be taken care of last, for he was allied with humanity. His other half better have done something with all the times that he battled Son Goku's Jinchuriki. Gobi's was likely still in Iwa. Since Hashirama's descendant killed Sanbi, he had no idea where he was, for he could have revived anywhere after Nibi went to save him, anyway. Rokubi was likely still in Kiri as well.
Things would be much easier if he could access his other half. Damn Ryujin and Naruto for barely interacting—
A calling.
Kyuubi looked up to the ceiling of his cage, the bricks of a sewer. All of the joints between the mortar… they glowed. They glowed crimson. It was a presence that he hadn't felt in nearly thirteen years.
A slick smirk exposed Kyuubi's bulding-sized teeth. He sent chakra into the connection point and closed his eyes.
The place he was in was much different than he expected.
A glacier, it was a massive glacier. Above, half of the sky was night with a full moon, the other half was day with a shining sun. There was no evening for a clean transition between the two, just a stark divide. Shoots of frozen over bamboo barely stuck out from the glacier he stood on in a miniature form.
Who stood across from him was his Yin Half in a miniature form.
Of course his Yin half had a proud smirk on his face. "Hello… other half."
Yang barked out a laugh. "Other half! How the hell did you manage something like this?!"
"If I am going to be honest, it was mostly sheer luck that I managed to find this loophole," admitted Yin with a snarl as he sat on the glacier. "This is the mindscape of Shinrai Uzumaki."
Yang's eyes went wide. "No wonder this life force is so… familiar."
"Indeed…" confirmed Yin before he went on to explain that, "I've always known that his brat has had a supply of my chakra within him. However, he never had yours despite his proximity to Naruto.
"But… that changed somehow. He gained a massive supply of your chakra recently—"
"The Fusion Seal!" Yang realized.
Yin looked intrigued. With a sadistic cackle, Yang explained himself. "He made a Jutsu Formula that combines and fuses two chakras. Shortly before I was able to rampage, he used it with Naruto while he was using my chakra. So… your chakra and mine… were able to mix in this brat's body."
Both Kyuubis laughed. "I'll have to thank that brat personally for this!" Yin sneered.
"We'll have the opportunity once we're free!" assured Yang. "Do you know of Nibi's plan?"
"Nibi has a plan?"
With a maniacal grin, Yang quickly told Yin of Nibi's plan to feed the Bijuu. Immediately, Yang supplied chakra to Yin, who transferred it to the seal inside of Ryujin. Of course, vice versa happened as well.
Both Kyuubis were linked permanently via Shinrai's chakra. With that link, plans of devastation were formed in droves.
—
By this point, most of the rubble had been taken care of village-wide. Mostly due to Miya's help. She didn't like tooting her own horn—not anymore, at least—but it was the truth. Clones and Adamantine Chains did wonders for clearing stuff out. It was already either being reused into new buildings or used for fuel for fires.
What was great, however, was that Konoha's walls were fully patched. Not a hundred percent repaired like they used to be, but much better than they were beforehand. With the guards that Danzo had placed, there should be no threat that wouldn't be spotted long before entering.
Her guard was never down, but it was lower than usual as she once again used her Adamantine Chains to assist in rebuilding. This time, she found herself to be something of a crane to bring materials into higher places.
What… wasn't great, however, was Shinrai. It was good that he was alive, that he wasn't critically injured, but… he didn't feel like himself. The mission report… he had… another brother?! There was a brother that they didn't save so long ago.
Baiko Uzumaki.
She would stop at nothing to rescue that poor child. If she was being honest with herself, Miya didn't know if it would've been better for him to remain unconscious. She wouldn't dare tell Shinrai that. Obviously… his encounter with Orochimaru broke him.
Miya wasn't going to let him waste away. She… didn't want Ryu's story to happen again. Especially right under her nose. Not again. Never would she make that same mistake again. Never would she be stupid enough for another member of her family to wither away into someone they used to be.
She should've pushed harder, she should've chased after him the moment she heard that Shinrai was out of the village unauthorized. Would she have been fast enough? Would she have been stealthy enough to avoid Orochimaru—fuck she despised that bastard traitor.
If there was one person she could kill, it'd be that thing. Calling Orochimaru human was being too generous. A real snake was more human than the monster that was Orochimaru. As Miya let out a ragged sigh, she made eye contact with the crow beside her.
It seemed to have agreed with her…
That red-eyed crow.
Red-eyed crow. Miya went cold.
"Since you are acting Hokage, it is you who I must ask…" From a murder of crows, another monster as despicable as Orochimaru formed.
Itachi Uchiha asked her, "What has become of Sasuke Uchiha?"
đ“ŤŠđ“ŤŠ ~ Chapter End ~ đ“ŤŠđ“ŤŠ