Dear Diary, today I learned that there are two ways to deal with the 'Uzumaki Experience': There is a healthy one which is based around having a small number of redheads that were easy to manage and couldn't overwhelm you in the short- and long-run, and then there was the insane one in the form of being surrounded by them, asked questions about an engagement I was quite certain I had neither heard and thus ever accepted, but also interrogated about Konoha's approach on Seals.
Ladies and Gentlemen, this supposed vacation was easily shifting into one of the worst situations ever. Like, it wasn't even a subjective mindset anymore if I couldn't even enjoy a moment of peace without someone jumping in with a question or assumption. I could definitely see from the multitude of misunderstandings tied to my relationship with Yoshiko that my father had taken his time of preparation before our visit to actually convince more than half the village that I was the girl's boyfriend. Or at least, something within the lines of me being closer than a friend. Which enabled rumors to be more legitimate and more pressing onto us. The issues I had with this whole situation? Yoshiko just wanted to 'roll with it' since we didn't exactly have to prove anything too 'weird' while accepting that situation, thus, it would be just us acting as if we were in that sort of relationship.
"Dad would never let us be unbothered by these claims. So, it would just make sense to let this happen just for the visit," She said with a truthful tone and I sighed.
"Yoshiko, you're one of my closest friends, but trust me when I say it's best to not give in to their intentions so early on. Especially since they can use this as a reason to demand more in the long-term," I argued back, winning only a temporary pout from the annoyed girl. She really didn't like my unwillingness to bow down to this whole situation.
Mito was even more convinced it would do well out of a 'ninja training' to create alibis when we were infiltrating a place. It was perhaps one of the most legitimate reasons possible to actually go for it, but I could tell with her coy smile it wasn't the real reason why she wanted this to happen. Meanwhile, a certain nine-tailed little jerk was snickering the whole time at my expense, claiming that it was 'perhaps the first time he saw someone this fierce and controlled be this flustered and upset about this kind of situation'. Which further aggravated me and forced me to take a rather drastic decision. If you want to hold a strong against crazy, you have to deploy someone that has experienced crazy.
It was there that Kiara came to play and was suddenly enamored by the Uzumaki clan. Chirpy, jovial, and her food was considered highly praise-worthy. The Phoenix-now-human was overjoyed by this 'gift'. So much that she could hug me numerous times across the first day of our visit. And while she was happily taking on all the attention that was meant for me by creating things that were more interesting in the short-run, I finally got the chance to properly enjoy Uzushiogakure and actually get some books on Seals.
I had gotten a few advice on where to find some seals-experts in the islands as there were a lot of those here in Uzushio, but I soon learned that some of those were potentially reluctant to take in 'foreign' students without someone to vouch for me due to how many 'infiltrators' could try and steal the Uzumaki clan's secrets.. Thankfully, Mito came in to save the day with a small letter certifying my proficiency and right mindset to explore seals. I was up to enjoy a proper learning trip about the ancient knowledge that only those here in Uzushiogakure could grant to others, and perhaps creating new variants to better human conditions. Good Civilization is a good civilization.
Lunch turned out to be quite pleasant as Yoshiko's father was less annoying during the occasion compared to the welcome party as he decided to focus now more on his own daughter and the progress she made during her time in Konoha. Despite her sending letters back to him about it, the girl was… Well, still targeted with multiple questions regarding her current life with her aunt. He was quite impressed as she told him that she was studying a lot and learning how to defend herself while also helping others, a bit worried about the short time period spent fighting in the war, but overall relieved that she didn't take part to any of the more gruesome operations in the mid-stage of the conflict. But while I was keen to enjoy a good meal away from trouble, here my name was brought up again and it took me in a rather unexpected conversation. It was just me, Kurama sleeping in my lap, Kiara sitting on my left while Yoshiko on the right, while Mito, the twins, her brother, the Uzukage, and her sister-in-law, Yoshiko's mother, were sitting by the other side of the table.
"Danzou-kun, there is actually something that I wanted to ask you regarding the situation with Kiri. I understand that you might have a greater grasp to the specific topic and I wanted your opinion about this."
I frowned at the way I was yanked into the talk, but I slowly nodded. "I will try my best."
A smile formed on the older redhead's face, but he was soon drawing out quite the serious scenario.
"As of recent times, the relationship between Uzushio and Kiri has devolved into a state of… 'quiet hostility'. Not to the point of active aggression, but all chances of striking at us are gauged by them and exploited if possible. Specifically it comes to the fishing rights," The leader elaborated tensely. "We have been trying to do our best to keep things neutral as we understand that we can't drag another war by reacting. None of the nations are ready for a continuation of the Great Shinobi War."
"While Konoha has recovered well from the losses, no one would jump at another war, especially in the eventuality Uzushio is the one attacking," Mito agreed quietly. "Hashirama wouldn't be able to draw enough support from the people."
"So you took a more appeasing grasp at the entire mess, right?" I questioned, receiving a nod. "Well, I would say that's a good idea for the time being, but, this is just advice, you should consider other solutions since that behavior will eventually be seen as a reason to demand more."
"We're already working on a better response, but this isn't exactly… the issue."
I blinked, feeling like there was something I was missing about the whole situation. And so, the Uzukage started to explain what the problem really was and why he had gone around it for a while now..
"A few days ago, some of our fishermen were attacked while they were out in the sea. We had some ninjas employed as escorts to make sure no attacks from Kiri happened, but… we ended up experiencing another kind of attack," The man muttered with a hint of nervousness, his gaze shifting on me… or rather to what was sitting on my lap. "The witnesses confirmed that there was an attempt to attack them from the Rokubi, the Six-Tailed Giant Slug."
Kurama tensed up at the mention, catching on where the problem really was about this news, but gave no other reaction beyond that. I knew that this was a bit of a conundrum regarding how to regard this situation and how to then 'deal' with it. I had to be quite careful about it if I wanted to irritate the nine-tailed beast at the table, and I had an idea on how to do so.
"Are you implying Kiri could have befriended the Rokubi?"
A slow nod, and I sighed.
"Did Kiri strike after the Rokubi attempted to do so? And, after the attack, did the Rokubi linger in the area?"
"Any particular reason for these questions, Dan-kun?" Mito inquired, and I nodded determinedly.
"There is one, but I would need these questions answered if possible."
The Uzukage thought about it for a moment, but then decided to put out his thoughts on the matter. "We have reason to believe the Tailed Beast is still within that specific area, and… no, Kiri didn't exploit the situation as far as we are aware of."
"Then there is a chance Rokubi was actually prodded into that situation. Kiri could have spurred it out of its slumber and directed it to find shelter into your fishing waters," I theorized, trying to find a possible reason that matched with Saiken's behavior since it was considered one of the rare cases where the Tailed Beast wasn't a complete jerk and wouldn't be eager into attacking humans without a proper reason. "It could also be possible that it thought the ninja escorts were part of Kiri and were planning to hunt it down."
"It's possible." Kurama agreed calmly. "Saiken was always the one that preferred isolation out of respect for humans. If that slug attacked anyone, then it's either for a rightful reason or it mistook the fishermen for those that got it to wake up."
The Kyuubi's own guarantee gave more legitimacy to my point of view, but it also set me up for a task that I couldn't exactly dodge.
"And the best way to confirm this is for me to go and check this myself."
The two adults in the room were rightfully unsure about this, but considering I have befriended the strongest of the tailed beasts, and then the scariest of the nine, they knew as much as I could claim that I was prepared for that kind of shit. Hence why the conversation ended because it would have felt awkward to press for more. Instead they just returned to their meal and let me enjoy the rest of the afternoon in relative peace. Yoshiko still followed me around, same for Kiara, and we all went to explore Uzushio as the little Uzumaki took this chance to let us explore her 'favorite' places. I wasn't even surprised by the fact it was a Ramen restaurant. Yes, restaurant- they actually built a massive restaurant solely meant for Ramen dishes alone. At least the snacks served there were good for an afternoon meal before we checked the small ninja academy within the island.
It was fairly smaller than Konoha's, but it was still well-organized and we ended up giving a quick lesson on general fighting to the students there. Yoshiko kicked some morons' asses when they tried to 'show off' to her. Never scorn an Uzumaki woman, it was clear their mothers had never taught these kids that rule. The overall reaction to my presence was positive as students raptly followed the words I gave them, and the teachers took notes on 'what could be improved' about known tactics in combat. War teaches officers how to elaborate effective strategies that tend to work in combat situations. And those tied to infiltration and sabotage were even so more important during peacetime when it came to missions against a country during peace.
Everything was moving smoothly for the first day as no one tried to kill us or anything like that. It wasn't like I thought or said anything like that, knowing that jinxing was a thing, but I was spared from facing any masked figure, and I was relieved when no sudden assassination attempt from Kiri unfolded during my visit. Instead, the real thing I worried about was the way Yoshiko and her family behaved during the occasion. Everything was going fine as far as I could see, but I hadn't been prepared for a little surprise that literally pulled me off the bed and left me in quite the awkward and deadly situation.
And it all started by the fact that the girl felt 'something' from within the island calling for her.
It was night, and I woke up as I noticed the strange lack of warmth of a certain someone that had pestered me to sleep in my bed for a full hour before going to sleep.
I blinked awake, tired and confused, but also incredibly frustrated by the fact Kiara had been pestering me for a while to get to sleep in the same bed after she felt something 'strange' was happening within the island. A quick check with the Uzukage confirmed nothing of the sort was going on within the village, so it was just plain odd she was reacting this weird and I just thought it was her 'phoenix sense' going cray-cray again. It definitely did when we were in Suna and she wanted to explore a restaurant that proved to be an empty building that had been empty for decades. I looked around the room, just briefly seeing someone jumping out of the window and slowly flying away into the general direction Kiara said something important was unfolding. So, I just put on my clothes, woke up a very annoyed Kurama as it was too 'early to be pestered like this', and brought the primadonna with me as we gave chase to the phoenix via rooftops.
It wasn't a long chase as we eventually reached a seemingly-abandoned warehouse in Uzushio's outskirts with most of its windows barricaded from the inside. I frowned at the overall appearance of the setting, but didn't hesitate following Kiara inside one of the non-boarded entries, landing right behind her as she walked up to… a glowing mask standing on a pedestal in the middle of the large ritual room we stumbled upon. At first I thought it was the Shinigami's mask, the one that in canon ended up being shipped to Konoha before the fall of Uzushio, but then I realized that the shape was more skeletal and less demonic as the Shinigami's face was.
"Kiara?" I called out, my voice stopping her on her tracks. "What are you doing?"
Silence greeted me, and I was extremely confused by her current behavior. This was incredibly unusual considering how she normally behaved around me. I took a few steps towards her, but she took an equal amount closer to the item currently ensnaring her attention away from me.
"Kiara, what's wrong?"
The phoenix was quiet, her eyes still caught by the sight of the unusually-placed object as if mesmerized by it. She approached it once again, forcing me to keep a close distance to see what she was planning to do by reaching the mask.
"Stop, Kiara. I said stop," I pushed a bit louder, but my plea fell to deaf ears as the phoenix girl kept on getting closer to the eerie thing. I picked up speed, trying to double the ones she was going for, but I still fell short from stopping her as she touched it with her left hand and… the world exploded white as something supernatural shifted us away from where we once were. My footing faltered and, after what felt like falling from high place, I 'safely' landed on a smooth and yet sturdy surface, and then I acted as a pillow for the falling phoenix. Kiara landed on me, avoiding getting hurt by the fall, but my back was a bit burning due to the awkward circumstance. As if awakened by the blast of pure light, the girl scampered off from me and stared right at my groaning face.
"D-Danzou? Wha- When did… what is going on?!"
My eyes narrowed on her, but it was an annoyed Kurama that answered.
"You left the room flying and we gave chase. Then you ignored Danzou's calling for you to stop as you were approaching the powering-up artifact in the warehouse we ended up in."
Kiara looked incredibly mortified by this explanation. "I… I don't know why I did that. I-I just felt… like being called or something."
Well, the mask was acting up before we arrived so perhaps it wasn't her fault and someone else's. What if someone from beyond this mask was responsible for this? Actually, what if we were in danger at that very moment? I stood up and started to look around, but as I did so, and I caught notice of the location we were in, a cold and empty set of stone-like halls that formed an endless maze, I felt someone firmly grasp at my free shoulder, the one not occupied by Kurama. I slowly turned around to see who it was but, instead of a demon, the Shinigami, or even the Grim Reaper, I was met with…
"Brad Pitt?"
"Strike one," The younger version of the guy muttered and I was confused until… I remembered where we possibly were. If this was the Shinigami's domains, then it was correct to assume this form of the Grim Reaper is none other than-
"Joe Black?"
He smiled. "It's been a while since I found someone noticing me in this form. Shimura Danzou, you shouldn't be here, it's still too early for your departure."
"I-It was my fault," Kiara jumped in. "It's just- I felt someone calling for me and I touched a mask and we got there."
"Also, Danzou," Kurama hummed, glancing at me with a dull look. "What is a 'Joe Black'?"
"That's a reference that only a few will get, Kurama. A mask? Someone called you?" The Brad Pitt look alike replied to the tailed beast before inquiring about the matter some more with genuine surprise on his face. The little fox on my shoulder huffed on my shoulder at that reply, but decided to confirm the previous narration.
"Yes. That's the story. Is it possible for someone of this realm to be behind this?"
"Well yes but… why would she… wait," The Grim reaper released me and walked up to Kiara. "Let's check on something."
The humanized phoenix was rigid as the manifestation of death touched her forehead. "Let's see… Kiara, you're a phoenix and a Summon to Shimura Danzou. You were last approached by a… wrong call about a soul-collection case. You tried to fake your own death."
"WHAT?!" I exclaimed and the girl swiftly looked away from me. I was just shocked by the absurdity of that description. Why? When!?
"I-It was just an experiment to see if I could appear dead. I didn't do anything silly, I just managed to appear weak and unmoving for a long amount of time."
"WHY?!" I asked with the same loudness as before.
"I..." The orangette looked away with an embarrassed look plastered on her face. "I wanted to pull a prank on you."
I was just shocked by what I was hearing. I just ignored the whole shit we were in and focused on what Kiara just confessed to. I imagined that kind of prank and I felt a little bit upset. It was a touch too strong for a prank and one that genuinely had me worried about the few times Kiara's moral compass went a few steps too far.
"Kiara-"
"I know, it was plain stupid and horrible. Which is why I didn't do it and… sorry."
…
"Just don't do that ever again. I don't want you hurting."
"But that's the thing," The Phoenix argued quietly. "I didn't hurt myself. I can actually shift my flames so it appears like I am not alive. Plus, I got really good at holding back my breath for a few hours."
I frowned. "What?"
"It's a phoenix thing," Joe hummed in frustration. "You would be surprised to hear that there are some of her kind that unconsciously appear dead but are actually alive and just holding their breath."
"So, what you're trying to say is that-"
"Someone I trusted with the job may have messed up something and tried to pull you here. For some reason I can't get from your vitals. You are fine as far as it came to normal phoenixes," Death admitted, frowning as he looked back at me. "Likewise, you lack any anomaly that could have been caused by anyone in this realm."
...He didn't catch the fact I was a reincarnation? The mere concept was odd, but I didn't want to risk it and actually ask if that was actually the case.
"Alas, I know who might have done this and… let's just say she has a lot to explain."
A chuckle reverberated from the man as he took charge and led us away from the empty space to one where there were more 'rooms' with things. Some were filled with files in boxes, either numbered or labeled with letters. My early assumption this was a maze proved to be correct as we took several turns before we arrived at our destination. And this room in particular looked like an office that had been used as of recently but lacked the owner at a first glance.
"Calliope Mori," Joe's voice got a bit more demonic with that call, and I heard someone shifting upward and standing up.
We were greeted with a tall skeleton with dull straight pink hair and pink orbs in the center of her empty eyes, wearing a simple black dress with a same-colored tattered cloak. She had a scythe with her, which was now hanging over her shoulder. She had been sitting on the corner on the side, right beside the entrance, which is why I didn't catch her early on.
"Teacher!" She replied seriously, almost going for a military salute before pausing at the overall situation. "Oh."
"'Oh' indeed, little Mori. I recall reminding you that summoning mortals in this realm was restricted and yet here I learn that you decided to set up the arrival of these three."
"Apologies, teacher," Calliope replied with an embarrassed voice.
"How about you apologize to them too, young lady. You were the one behind their arrival."
She bowed her head a bit lower. "A-Apologies."
I slowly nodded. "Why did you do that?"
Her mouth opened and then closed.
"Lady Mori-" The Shinigami tried to push her to answer with his strong voice.
"I-I just wanted to return this. I kind of took it when I came around and I was just waiting for the best opportunity to give it back," The girl said while pulling out what looked to be… one of Kiara's hats. This one looks to have taken a rough beating and had a small section connected with a dull pink patch. "It got damaged while
"Y-Yeah, it was pretty damaged, so I took some of my free time to fix it… as an apology," Calliope explained and Kiara… held the hat close to her chest and gave a teary-eyed thankful glance at the fellow girl.
"T-Thank you."
Before the skeleton-like young woman could have said something more about it, she was suddenly pulled in a tight hug. The Shinigami-in-training tensed up and let out an unusual noise at the development.
"Guh!"
"I believe that this solves the issues on your side of things, but it leaves me particularly displeased as I gave her a specific order," The Shinigami pointed out dryly, giving me a long look. "What do you think?"
"Why me?"
"Because I can tell that any punishment I can pick up will not help her in the long run. I want to punish her to help her understand why she can't do certain things and why she has to do others she might not like," The Reaper elaborated. "Hence why I want an opinion of a human to handle a most humane circumstance."
I could tell he also wanted something else but… what? And why? Why was he giving me this kind of choice? Despite all the questions I had, I could tell I didn't have the leverage to press on the matter, and so I begrudgingly worked through this strange new task I got.
"Well, I guess that, if she is having trouble dealing with human emotions, why not have her learn those through… Kiara?" I offered it to Joe. "I mean, she is having that kind of issue."
"...Hmm, she could also write reports to prove she is actually learning. Yes, I can tell Calli would gain a lot from this kind of disposition. Of course, it will be Kiara in charge of the lessons, which means I will strictly forbid my student to help you with anything."
A bit of a pain in the ass, but I was already expecting a catch from that kind of arrangement.
"Pity, but it's only logical you don't give that kind of power to a mortal."
For some strange reason the Brad Pitt lookalike merely smiled at my question and had the two girls finally detached so Kiara, Kurama and I could finally get back to Uzushio at once. I wasn't planning to waste the entire night being awake when there was going to be something really important for the next day. We were ultimately dropped back in the warehouse, and I sighed tiredly as we wasted half-a-night dealing with this mess. Despite her excitement at having made a new 'super-cool' friend, she quickly dimmed out as she realized it was night. Cue me dragging a sleeping phoenix muttering about chicken wings, Calli and me during the rush back to my room. She was nuzzling and snoring cutely as we both went to bed. While I could tell today had been a big day, I knew tomorrow was going to be even bigger with how much we would have to deal with.
Mostly because I was going to talk with a giant slug about possible grievances of the Kiri kind.