How do you feel? That is the question
But I forget you don't expect an easy answer ~ Stone Sour
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Later, after Mum had come to scold me for getting injured – again! – and dragged Shikamaru home with a flurry of nagging 'suggestions', I mustered up the energy to move and padded slowly down the hospital corridors. There was no way to move that didn't hurt, everything stressed, strained, overworked and cramped and I thought longingly of going back to sleep until I had recovered enough chakra to alleviate some of it, but my sense of time was nagging at me. I knew if I left it too long – procrastinated – then I would miss my chance, and I couldn't risk that.
Gingerly, I pushed the door to the roof open, blinking and squinting at the bright sunlight. The rooftop was mostly covered in clotheslines, hanging the masses of white sheets that the hospital went through out to dry. It gave the place an almost eerie maze like quality.
I hesitated for a second in the open door, wanting to turn around and retreat, then pushed myself forward. My palms started to sweat and I rubbed them on the legs of my pants; I was hardly in any condition to fight, would hardly even be able to run, and for all that the Sand Siblings had rescued us, not too long ago they had been our enemies.
You wanted to talk to him, I reminded myself.
I wound my way through the maze of flapping white sheets, heading unerringly for the edge of the building and the person I knew was there. My chakra sense was a sense, like sight, like hearing, it was absolutely passive and didn't require me to expend any chakra, for which I was grateful. I had no chakra to spare, right now, and being without it would be like being blind.
I cleared my throat awkwardly, as I approached. "Hi."
Gaara turned to look at me. There was none of the bloodlust, the untamed killer intent, that there had been last time he was in Konoha and I relaxed a fraction. There was a difference between expecting something – based on information that might not even be relevant anymore, even – and seeing.
"I, ah, I wanted to thank you for helping us."
Gaara blinked and looked – mildly – baffled. "You came up here to say… thank you?"
I might not have ever been brilliant at small talk, but it wasn't strange was it? There was a reason I'd chosen it as my segue into conversation. Start a conversation, get it rolling, then drop the bomb about Akatsuki…
"Well, I came up here to get some fresh air, but when I saw you I thought I should say thanks," I said, which wasn't entirely the truth but, you know, made me seem less like a weird stalker.
Somehow I had the feeling that this conversation wasn't going to go in the direction I envisioned it.
"It was a pretty nasty mission," I continued, as the silence drew out. "We were lucky you showed up when you did."
Actually, by the time the Sand Siblings had shown up, Naruto and Sasuke probably had things under control. Probably. Although, they'd definitely helped in getting us all home in one piece.
I sighed, leaning on the railing at the edge of the roof and arranging my arm so it dangled in the least painful way. This wasn't working. Maybe I should skip the lead in and go straight to the warning about Akatsuki. I cast my senses out, but I couldn't feel anyone else around. That didn't mean no one was there, however. This was Konoha, the chances of being overheard were so much higher… but if Tsunade didn't have the manpower to send with us, she hardly had the manpower to have people watch the Sand Siblings while they were in the village. Right?
I chewed on my lip.
"You were injured on this mission," Gaara said, breaking the silence.
I almost started. "Yeah," I said, twitching my bandaged arm at him. He was looking almost directly at it, so it was hardly necessary. "Got stabbed trying to pin an explosive tag on him. It was pretty stupid," I said. "But it was after Kiba went down and before Hinata showed up, so I didn't have a lot of choice."
That seemed to interest him. Oh yeah. This was one of Gaara's things, wasn't it? The bonds between people, friendship, altruism.
"You were injured trying to protect him," he said lowly. "Why? Doesn't it hurt?"
I stared thoughtfully at my arm, wiggled my fingers and, like an idiot, poked it. "Yup," I hissed between gritted teeth. Okay, so that was not as healed as I thought it was. "But if I hadn't done anything… it would have been worse, because other people would have gotten hurt."
Maybe Kimimaro would have left Kiba and I alone, he hadn't been interested in us at all, but Sasuke would have been delivered straight to Orochimaru. That… no, I couldn't have let that happen.
"You would… feel their pain."
I blinked. "I guess? Not literally but … it would have hurt. It does hurt," I amended. It sounded terribly lame; hurt didn't even begin to cover it. Fear, guilt, anguish, the twisting, sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach, the lump in your throat…
I swallowed. Gaara was watching me, gaze steady and disconcerting.
"It's worse," I finished.
"A wound of the heart," he murmured. "When you care about someone so much that every hurt inflicted on them is inflicted on you as well. And the closer they are, the more it hurts."
I had a feeling he wasn't even really talking to me anymore. It was a little worrying. And I couldn't let that kind of bleak assessment pass without comment. "There are a lot of good things about having people that close too, though." My mouth twisted a little. "It's not just pain."
"And even that pain is preferable to loneliness," Gaara mused.
"Yeah, because loneliness like that… is there all the time." Like waking up and remembering they're gone, they're gone, it's all gone. I shoved the thought away, annoyed with myself. "Look Gaara… I know we didn't start off on the right foot or anything… but Konoha and Hidden Sand are allies now – we are allies now." I fumbled the words. This wasn't going right. Nothing I'd planned to say fit, and everything was moving too fast to take the time to plot out a speech. "And I know that you're a Jinchuriki. So I wanted to warn you. There is a group called Akatsuki, made up of S-rank missing-nin, that is hunting you. One of them is Sasori of Red Sand…"
That was so very far from smooth. I grimaced. "I don't think I'm really supposed to be telling you this, but I thought you should know."
Gaara was staring at me, eyes wide – not crazy-wide, thankfully – and I looked away. "They're after Naruto too, that's how I know."
Was that enough information? Was it too much? How could I even tell? Mentioning Sasori was important, he was from Sand, they probably had the most information on him…
My head ached. I wanted to go lie down. Maybe I should have left this till later.
"You would," Gaara rasped, "feel pain… for me?"
My brain stalled, running back over our conversation and trying to find the links. Oh, hell. "I don't think anyone should get hurt," I said. "It doesn't… It shouldn't have to be like that."
And oh, wasn't that something strange? I came from a world where everything that hurt people was bad. Everything was regulated, everything dangerous was minimised, even prisoners were kept safe and unharmed. There was no – or very little – 'they deserved it'. Here, it was different. Sometimes it was close enough that I missed the cultural difference, but sometimes it was so obvious. I'd learnt to live with it, it had crept into my thought processes until I barely even noticed, but sometimes… sometimes I felt so other.
"Is that why you let us leave?" Gaara accused, suddenly, eyes narrowing.
I sighed. "I killed thirteen people between the stadium and finding you in the forest," I said, tiredly. I hated saying it, hated knowing the total number was even higher than that. "I didn't let you go because I wanted to keep my hands clean." That was what he was asking – did you because you couldn't? "I made a choice, Gaara. I thought it would be better. It was, wasn't it? You wouldn't have come to help us now if things had been different then."
The look of accusation had faded, but I couldn't tell if he got it. I pushed myself off the rail. "Look, I'm tired. Just… think about it. And you probably shouldn't let anyone know I told you." I grimaced again; it gave him something to hold over me, but it couldn't be helped.
I walked away, the back of my neck prickling as I turned my back on him.
That could have gone better.
I limped down the stairs and fully intended on going back to my room and sleeping, but I passed by a room with familiar chakra inside and couldn't resist the urge to go in.
Kiba looked up as the door opened. "Yo. Man, you're up already? They won't even let me get out of bed." He scoffed in good natured disgust.
I stepped around the small dog bed on the floor, where Akamaru was bandaged and curled up, and settled into the visitors chair. "Only just," I muttered with a yawn. "I feel like I could sleep for a week. How's Akamaru?"
"What not going to ask how I am?"
"You're awake and complaining," I shot back dryly. "Sounds like you're just fine to me."
Kiba smirked. "Yeah, whatever. He's fine. Hana was here, she checked him out. Said we were both lucky to not be worse off." The smirk left his face.
"Most of us were lucky," I said sombrely.
"Yeah. Most of us were," he echoed. "Though I tell you what, Mum's going to kick my ass in training for letting this happen. Not cool, and I thought flunking the Chunin Exams was bad enough…"
"Mmm," I agreed, eyes sliding closed. These chairs weren't actually that uncomfortable after all…
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I woke to a very familiar chakra presence brushing my senses.
"Sensei?" I murmured sleepily. "Aren't you supposed to be at the border?"
Kakashi-sensei was leaning casually against the door frame, hands in his pockets. He looked absolutely normal, but he didn't have his book out, and there was something indefinable about him that read as weary.
"Sa, they sent the first responders home," he said. "I got to come back with a team of Chunin that had been in Land of Stone for the past month."
I nodded, covering a yawn and rubbing the crust from my eyes. It made sense, to relieve the ones that had already been on a mission when they'd been called out, especially if it had been a long one. That didn't really explain sensei, but I was just glad he was there.
"Have you seen the boys?" I asked, hopefully.
His eye curved into a smile. "Not yet. I was just on my way there." The invitation was pretty implicit and I unravelled myself out of the chair. If I'd felt terrible before, it was nothing compared to how I felt after several hours sitting in the same position. My stomach gave an angry growl, reminding me that sometime during my nap, lunch had passed.
"And maybe some food," I said, slightly embarrassed.
Kakashi-sensei cocked his head thoughtfully, and reached into one of the pockets of his vest. The ration bar he withdrew was slightly crushed and battered enough that the lettering was starting to fade off the packaging – and really, who ate ration bars when they didn't have to? – but I took it with a slightly bemused, slightly fond smile. "Thanks sensei."
Kiba coughed, a little awkwardly. "Ne, Kakashi-sensei. Didja see Kurenai-sensei while you were there?"
"No," Kakashi-sensei replied. "But I did see some of her genjutsu work. She's doing well."
Which made me curious as to what he was talking about, but it was overruled by more pressing matters. I did want to know about what was happening at the border, but it could wait.
"I think Sasuke's in the secure ward, again," I said, leaning into Kakashi-sensei's side, half for support, half just for a hug.
He ruffled my hair awkwardly. "They're looking at the changes in the seal," he said. "It's a complicated process."
I'd never actually been to the secure ward, and Kakashi-sensei led me – slowly – down the stairs and through a series of twisting corridors that made me doubt we were even still in the hospital anymore. The secure ward was for things that were dangerous or in danger, so I guess it made sense not to have it near the other patients. There was a single ANBU standing guard by the door as we signed into the 'visitors' log under Kakashi-sensei's clearance. I suspected – but had no proof – that there was at least one more for backup somewhere nearby.
Kakashi-sensei took us to an observation room, overlooking a giant, sealing room, empty save for Sasuke in the centre and Jiraiya and several scribes around the edges. The floor was painted with incredibly intricate patterns of black ink, coiling up Sasuke's body until they reached his neck and then… illuminating. I couldn't think of any other way to describe it. It reminded me of the OHP's – overhead projectors – that had been common when I'd been at primary school, using a light source and lenses to magnify writing onto another surface. In this case, the roof was showing a wavering, and in some cases blurred, projection of a seal.
It was fascinating. The air fairly thrummed with chakra.
Sasuke's eye flickered towards the observation window as we came in.
"Don't move!" Jiraiya barked. There was a crease of concentration between his eyes.
"That's… the curse mark?" I asked, squinting at it.
"The expanded form, yes," Kakashi-sensei said. I watched as he nonchalantly pushed his headband up and stared at it with his Sharingan eye. "The process to even view it is quite complicated."
I could see that, just from the sheer size of the room involved. It also gave me an idea of how complicated the curse seal really was… it covered the entire roof, and I thought some of the blurry spots might have been compacted seals inside the seal.
"The image is reversed… but that's just part of this process, isn't it?" It made understanding some of the parts a little trickier, but it was a minor inconvenience at best. My eyes flickered over the seal, applying what minor sealing knowledge I had. "Circular sealing… Kanji based… Scientific and mathematical calculations common in medical sealing… tri-part… Chakra sealing? Mind/Soul and Body and … Nature?" I squinted at the Kanji. Those three were compressed again, right in the centre of the image. "That's a … storage seal… for…" I hesitated. "A spirit? A soul? The chakra goes through it, so whatever it is, it's probably what was described as 'consuming' and what gives it the taint." And what let Orochimaru use it for his body jumping technique. "It has a one-way isolation seal on it… it might actually be able to get out." I think I sounded a little horrified. Then again, I'd almost known that, what with Kajika's possession on one of our earlier missions and in canon, the snakes that had burst from Sasuke's seal…
"Jiraiya is the best there is at this," Kakashi-sensei said. It was scant reassurance, since no one had ever been able to do anything about Anko's seal.
Staring at the seal, I had to admit that I would have no idea where to start unravelling it, either. Orochimaru might have been completely without ethics or morals, but he was a genius.
It took about an hour for them to finish up, the seal on the ceiling wavering and bits expanding and contracting as they focused on different parts, and it was slow going so clearly they'd been at it for a while before we showed up. I did, in fact, end up eating Kakashi-sensei's ration bar.
I wished I had paper and a pen to write notes with but somehow I suspected I technically wasn't supposed to be seeing this. Or at least, not in enough depth to understand it.
Eventually, the sealing stopped, the ink crawling back down off Sasuke and returning to inert lines on the floor.
"Finally," Sasuke sighed, slumping a little.
"Don't smudge the ink, kid," Jiraiya said. "You know how long it'll take me to redo all that?"
"Yes," Sasuke said, annoyance staining the word. "I was here the whole time. Not moving."
It was nice to see they were getting on so well.
Sasuke picked his way – carefully! – out of the sealing diagram and headed towards the door.
"Hey," he said, dark eyes flickering over me. "You're okay? They haven't really told me much of anything." He shrugged, irritated.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I said. "Kiba and Chouji had surgery, but they're expected to recover. The only one we're worried about… is Ino."
His eyes widened a little at that. That hadn't been who he was expecting. "I see."
"And you?" I asked, a little anxious. Obviously he wasn't hurt but…
Sasuke shrugged again. "They've run so many tests I think they have half my blood right now. And well," he flicked a hand back at the sealing room. "That." He looked quite bored with it all, which was probably a reaction to not having been able to move for hours on end.
"Really, Kakashi?" Jiraiya said, holding one of the recently written scrolls. "You think it's a good idea to bring her here?"
Kakashi-sensei shrugged lackadaisically. "I can vouch for her."
"Not really what I meant," Jiraiya said, rolling his eyes. He didn't seem that perturbed or surprised, though. "So what'd you think?" That seemed to be directed at me, and though his voice was light, his stare was calculating.
It was a test. Of course it was a test, but what was it testing?
"I think," I said slowly. "I would have no idea where to start unravelling a seal like that." I racked my brains for what he could be looking for. I wanted to impress Jiraiya, if I really thought about it, especially when it came to sealing. He had helped me, and I didn't want him to think it had gone to waste. "The compressed seal is always a tri-part seal. Not just Sasuke's, all the other Sound ninja had a three part design as well, even if it was different otherwise. That's because of the chakra storage part, isn't it? Mind, Body, and that third kanji 'nature'… when Sasuke was in the barrel, and when Kidomaru was recovering, it was like they were sucking the chakra out of the air… that's how it manages to provide such a huge strength boost." That was the bloodlimit of Juugo, wasn't it? An uncontrolled sage mode type thing that Orochimaru had studied to make the second state. "And, we saw Orochimaru possess Kajika… that's what the 'soul' component is there for, isn't it? And the more you use the seal, the stronger it gets?"
Jiraiya looked… I wasn't sure, suddenly.
"Go back to that part about the chakra in the air," he said slowly, and I realised, suddenly, that I had just described natural chakra to Jiraiya. The Toad Sage.
Sometimes you should just learn to keep your mouth shut, I thought to myself. Which was strange, since my natural inclination was to keep my mouth shut.
"Umm," I said intelligently. "It's just sort of there? Everything gives off chakra just from being alive." I fumbled the words. It was… It wasn't easy to describe and it wasn't a conversation topic that I had anticipated.
Jiraiya looked pained. Definitely pained. "You haven't tried to … use this … chakra in the air, have you?"
I shook my head. "It's not mine," I said. "I don't – maybe calling it chakra is the wrong thing." It was like chakra more than it was like physical or mental energy but it still wasn't…
"It's called natural energy," Jiraiya said. "And you shouldn't be able to sense it. Dammit, this is not something Genin should be messing with." He gave an exasperated glance at sensei, as though it were his fault. "Don't try and use it without training." His face was unusually serious and I nodded silently. Naruto's sage training had been dangerous, I remembered that much. "I'm not kidding here, natural energy can do worse than kill you – and it can do that too. That's part of the reason we're not doing more than try to contain that curse seal; it's balanced right now but the slightest push will send it crashing down."
Beside me, Sasuke had gone still and pale. "What," he asked, "is natural energy?" His eyes darted from me to Jiraiya and back again.
Jiraiya lifted his lips in a humourless smirk. "Exactly what it sounds like. The energy produced by nature as it goes about its daily business of surviving. Sometimes, after many, many years of study, people can learn to sense and manipulate it to become a Sage. Monks, usually, who spend decades meditating daily and pondering the sound of one hand clapping."
"You're one, though, aren't you?" I asked. "The Toad Sage."
"That's even rarer. Some Summon animals have the ability to teach… if they think you're worthy. The Toads won't take another Summoner though, not for your generation." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Some of the other Great Summons might. Tsunade-hime might know if the slugs…" he trailed off. "But the chances of finding a summon that does know, and having them agree to teach you… you might have better luck trying at the Fire Temple. Most temples have some unique sealing techniques, so I'd recommend visiting them anyway."
That was… more information that I had expected I would get. Not just theoretical, but real world applicable. These people know. Suddenly… it seemed more than 'one day it might be possible'.
Something must have shown on my face because Sasuke spoke. "Shikako, don't," he said, with something close to urgency in his voice.
"It's okay," I said quickly. "I understand that you need a teacher. I've already had one close call, you know. I'm not looking for another."
"And it didn't stop you," Sasuke said flatly. "You still kept training."
I blinked. Well what had he expected me to do? Stop? That hardly seemed like something Sasuke would consider.
He looked exasperated. "It's like you don't even see the danger."
"Of course I do," I said back, puzzled. "Given what we just went through, I'm very aware of how dangerous everything is." And it was only going to get worse, which was why I was looking at high level training, even if I wasn't able to take advantage of the opportunities it presented yet.
Above our heads, Jiraiya and Kakashi-sensei were exchanging looks, seeming to have an entire conversation.
"Right," Jiraiya said. "I can't keep Tsunade-hime waiting." He shook his head with a sigh. "You kids do seem to land yourselves right in the middle of some serious messes."
"You don't know half of it," Kakashi-sensei said with a sigh. "I've been gone for a week and come back to find they've done an A-rank without me."
Any other time, I would have been all over that opening, but I found I just didn't have the will for mischief right now.
But Sasuke smirked. "Three," he said. "Technically, we did three A-ranks without you."
Kakashi-sensei stared.
"One of them started about… half an hour after you left," Sasuke added.
"Stop talking," Sensei instructed. "Just… stop."
A grin tugged at the corner of my mouth. Team Trouble Magnet, alright.
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The next day I was wandering again - still tired, still exhausted, but restless – making my way from room to room. Ino wasn't allowed visitors and I worried, but Chouji seemed to be in good spirits and Lee had been resigned to the scolding of the nurses.
I hadn't visited them in any particular order, simply meandering around and talking to whoever I found first. I also hadn't exactly been paying one hundred percent attention to where I was going, which lead to me nearly walking straight into Neji Hyuuga as he exited the room I was about to enter.
"Sorry," I said awkwardly. Well, that's a little embarrassing, isn't it?
He shook it off. "Hokage-sama has sent me to inform you that we will be debriefing in an hour in conference room seven, now that everyone is awake."
I nodded, accepting the information, then paused. "Everyone? Is Ino awake?" I hoped so.
"I have no more information than that," he said evenly though I thought I might have detected a hint of apology in his tone.
"Thank you," I said, moving to the side so he could get past.
But Neji paused. "I have heard," he started carefully. "That Hinata-sama was one of those that assisted you." It wasn't exactly a question, but his gaze was very intense as it settled on me.
I nodded. "She did. She was brilliant," I said. I meant it, too. "If it hadn't been for her arrival, both Kiba and I would be dead and Sasuke would be gone."
"Hiashi-sama was… not pleased at her impulsive actions," Neji ventured flatly.
"He should be," I said, a tad sharply. "She fought Kimimaro one on one and was barely injured where the rest of us nearly died. She was brilliant."
Neji just nodded thoughtfully, and it occurred to me that he hadn't mentioned it was his own opinion. Truthfully, I hadn't really had much to do with Neji, even if my team mates had, and most of that had been at the Chunin Exams anyway. While it hadn't been that long ago, Neji had had some major life changes.
Neji hesitated for a second longer, then moved off with a clipped farewell. I watched him go, thoughtfully, then slipped into the room that he'd just exited.
"Hey, Naruto," I said.
"Shikako-chan! Man, you're up already?" Naruto practically wiggled in place. He was wrapped in so many bandages I was surprised he could bend. "Baa-chan said she'd kick my ass if I even thought about it."
"Sa, you got hurt a lot worse than I did," I said. "And you pulled on a lot more chakra than you have before."
Naruto's grin faltered a bit. "Yeah, that was a bit… yeah."
Okay, wrong topic. "I've been to see Sasuke," I offered. "He's fine. Jiraiya-sama was looking at the seal."
"Yeah, the pervy sage was in here before, complaining about baa-chan overworking him." He made a 'pffft' sound, clearly not very impressed by it. And Kaka-sensei was back too!"
I settled into the chair, chatting away. Nothing kept Naruto down for long.
About three quarters of an hour later, a nurse came in to help Naruto into a wheelchair and escorted us to the conference room. Kiba and Chouji in wheelchairs as well and it struck me again at how very thin Chouji was, and how wrong it looked on him. The others drifted in, Hinata and Neji together looking reasonably at ease with each other, Shikamaru slouching into a seat next to his team mate with a muted yawn, Ibiki-taicho bandaged and moving stiffly. Sasuke was escorted in by Jiraiya, who grinned and ruffled his hair, earning himself a lethal looking glare.
"I want out of here," Sasuke said flatly, sliding in between the two of us. The room was starting to get crowded, and we were pressed knee to knee.
"Jiraiya-sama isn't that bad," I said, carefully smothering my amusement. Naruto didn't even bother and snickered loudly.
"He's just as bad as Naruto." Sasuke scowled, disgruntled. And where, with Naruto, he could at least retaliate, Jiraiya had both rank and experience against him.
The rest of the squads trickled in until Tsunade hustled in, followed shortly by Ino and her father.
I couldn't stop myself hissing a breath, and I wasn't the only one.
It was relieving to see Ino awake and aware and on her feet, yes… but as she lifted her eyes to scan the room I saw she wasn't unchanged. In the middle of each of her beautiful blue eyes was a long, slitted pupil.
The eyes are the windows to the soul.
It's a sentiment that's repeated often. Doujutsu have an almost legendary status, and more power than their complexity would suggest but it doesn't stop there. Even when the eyes are not the focal point for a change, they can still reflect differences. Sage mode, as an example I had recently been considering, did the exact same thing.
Which meant that there was something really wrong here.
Inoichi rested a reassuring hand on her shoulder and guided her to a seat.
"Alright," Tsunade said, silencing any whispers that had been about to start up. "Sorry to pull you away, Inoichi, but I want to get this wrapped up as soon as possible. First off, congratulations on mission success and zero fatalities." Her eyes swept over us all. "You went above and beyond the expectations of your rank, and I am very proud to call you all ninja of Konoha."
I could almost see everyone straightening their backs at her words.
"Secondly, we'll be running a full debriefing. That means we'll be covering details that are classified to the back of beyond and are not to become public knowledge. Unfortunately, it's almost impossible to cover the entire mission, and I imagine most of the village is already aware that something went down." Given that we'd had several groups come bursting through the front gate in various states of injury, as well as prisoners, it wasn't too much of a stretch to say that. What they knew was the important part.
Ibiki started the recap of the mission beginning, how we'd started and what we'd planned to do, and took it all the way up to when we'd left the village.
Then it was Sasuke's turn and he got to lay out exactly where the Sound Four had been and where they'd headed, information which brought dark casts to the faces of the adults in the room.
"Then they made me take the pill, and I don't remember anything until the fighting," he finished flatly.
"According to the medical reports," Tsunade said, shuffling some of the papers. "That was an enzyme that catalysed a full body change which requires an enormous amount of chakra to initiate. By rights, altering the body that much should have killed you and we're still in the process of working out what exactly was changed."
Ibiki took over again, continuing to the failed ambush. "They were able to overpower my summoning," he said with a grimace. "I wouldn't be confident in anything short of complete immobilisation and chakra deprivation or suppression being used to incarcerate them."
Tsunade nodded at his recommendation. "Jiraiya had already applied seals to the prisoners. We don't want them to escape."
We covered the ambush and splitting up, and Naruto sending Ibiki back to Konoha with a clone. Then we paused, unsure who should go next.
"Let's start with Team Three," Tsunade said. "Since that's where everyone ended up."
I swallowed at being so suddenly put on the spot. "Uh, Ino and I went after Kidomaru; the shinobi with six arms. He had sticky webs with high tensile strength as well as ranged projectiles." I struggled to describe the fight concisely. "I was able to pin him down and line him up for Ino to take a shot at him, but…"
"I was…" Ino said hesitantly, frowning as she tried to put words to something that couldn't really be described. "… diverted. Instead of finding Kidomaru, there was… a snake. A white snake. It attacked me and I couldn't… I was…"
Her father squeezed her shoulder. "Take it slowly; it's okay."
"I was injured," she said precisely. Injured could mean a whole lot of things, and I had a sinking feeling as I tried to contemplate the kind of injured that could come from that. "I tried to pull back, but we got… tangled up. Kidomaru too – he was still there it just wasn't him…." Her hands clenched into fists in her lap. "I brought some of it back with me. Dad… The Intelligence Division has been helping me go through it."
Information goldmine, I thought and then was immediately ashamed of myself when it was so clear that Ino was not okay.
"According to Ino's testimony, as well as the analysis provided by Jiraiya on the seals themselves," Tsunade said. "We have reason to believe that each curse seal possesses a fragment of mental and spiritual energy. Enough to potentially sustain a personality template and gather and retain information. Without a substantial boost, it wouldn't be able to completely possess anyone, but there could be bleed through effects." Her voice was sombre. "It's also unknown how much information can be transmitted between fragments, or to the real Orochimaru."
I cast a glance at Sasuke, who was pale. It was interesting that they were telling us all this…
"It leaves us with several problems," Tsunade concluded. "But we'll deal with those later." She looked at me expectantly and I started, realising I was expected to continue.
I ran through the rest of the fight with Kidomaru, about hiding Ino and going back for Kiba, all the way up to the beginning of the fight with Kimimaro.
"Okay," Tsunade cut in, holding up her hand. "Now Team Two."
Shikamaru folded his hands on the table and slumped over them, seeming no more excited than I was to speak.
"We went after Tayuya," he said. "The sole female of the group. She claimed to be the second strongest, after Sakon." He glanced towards Naruto, just a quick flick of the eyes. "She was predominantly a genjutsu type, using sound from her flute to carry the illusions, but she also had a set of large summons she called 'Doki'. They were controlled by her flute, and could consume physical energy."
At the second state, Tayayu had been a formidable opponent, capable of near-unbreakable full immobilisation genjutsu. Shikamaru's recital was dry and lacked emotion, but they'd been run through the ringer with several genjutsu simply because she was toying with them. The Doki had been strong, too, and Chouji had ended up taking the first of the three pills to be able to hold them off while Shikamaru attacked Tayuya herself. He'd ended up taking the second to defeat them when it turned out that even with short distance and as many advantages as he could stack up for himself, Shikamaru still hadn't been able to overpower Tayuya with his Shadow Neck-Binding Technique.
"Between the two of us, we were able to knock her out, and I made the decision to return to Konoha for medical aid rather than search for the other members of the squad," Shikamaru finished emotionlessly.
"It was the right decision," Tsunade said. "Naruto?"
"Right! So I was fighting the weird two headed guy, which was totally not just a head but an actual other person who could like, slither inside you." Naruto shivered. "He was pretty strong and just kept slicing through my clones and I didn't want to bring out the toads once I found out that he could get inside you and possess you then kill you. It was going okay, but then they split apart and he got me."
The adults all went still. I didn't even want to see what was on Jiraiya's face.
"He was like, crawling inside me, making my arms do stuff… so I pulled on…" he glanced around then firmed up. "I pulled on the Kyuubi's chakra and it pretty much just burnt him straight out of me."
He looked a little sick and I closed my eyes.
Hell.
The Kyuubi's chakra was poisonous, no doubt about that. What it would do to somebody trying to invade the body of its host… burnt might be too kind a word for it.
Half the room already knew the truth about him, anyway. Hinata didn't look at all surprised, but she had been there for the fighting and had seen him heal. Didn't mean there wasn't a sudden burst of noise, but much less than it could have been.
Tsunade thumped a hand on the table. "Naruto."
He smiled shakily. "I'm allowed to tell people, baa-chan! I'm the host of the Kyuubi, just like Gaara is the host of the Ichibi."
"Yes, yes," she rolled her eyes. "Let's drop another S-rank secret on the table. Why not."
"If Gaara became so angry because of his treatment," Lee spoke up, holding a fist into the air. "Then you have overcome much hardship to have such a positive outlook, Naruto! You inspire me!"
Naruto fidgeted. "Ahh, thanks, bushy-brows."
"'To carry a seal that can never be removed'," Neji said quietly. "I see. I apologise."
Naruto shrugged. "It's nothing. Don't worry about it. So… ah, after that, I took out Sakon and summoned one of the transport toads to take him back to Konoha." He looked eager to get back to talking about the mission and not himself.
"We have him," Tsunade said. "Though its uncertain if he'll survive the loss of his… partner."
Neji was then the last of the original squad to go. Jiroubou had apparently had quite an arsenal of earth ninjutsu to go with brutal taijutsu, including some that drained chakra, though they had been quite slow and avoidable, and Neji had had some trouble getting in to range for his Jyuuken to be effective. The fight had dragged out for quite some time when Tenten showed up to offer support. After that, they had had a much better time of it. Between the two of them, they had managed to bring him back, but by the time they arrived, there was little point in heading back out again.
"When we heard that our team mate was on a mission," Lee started when it was his turn. "Tenten and I went down to the gates to see if there was word of him! Then we became aware that the mission was in danger and felt it was our duty as shinobi to offer assistance! Hinata joined us, and the three of us went after our comrades! With much wisdom Tenten decided to assist Neji with his opponent, while I collected the prisoner off Shikamaru so that he could return to the village more quickly. Hinata went ahead to assist Kiba and Shikako!" He beamed.
This was where all the stories started coming back together again.
"I intercepted several attacks," Hinata said softly, a hint of her usual stammer. "Both Shikako and Kiba were heavily injured, a-and…" She tapped her fingers together. "I didn't do very well, but then Lee came."
I begged to disagree. "If you don't mind me asking," I said politely. "What was the attack you used… Protection of…"
Hinata looked down. "Protection of the Eight Trigrams; Sixty Four Palms. I-it is my failing that I cannot use the Kaiten, b-but I will not give up!" There was a spark of defiance in her eyes. "So I trained very hard and I created my own defence."
Neji's eyes widened.
"Well, I think it was awesome," Kiba said stubbornly. "Don't give me any of that 'not very good' crap."
Hinata went red and didn't speak.
Tsunade looked mostly amused at the by play. "Then?" she asked.
"Then I returned!" Lee said. "I too agree that Hinata was fighting excellently! Unfortunately, we were not able to overcome our opponent and Naruto also joined in the fight."
"Yeah, that guy was way tougher than Sakon," Naruto agreed. "All of us were fighting and pretty much not getting anywhere at all, and he wasn't even using his curse seal." Naruto rubbed his torso, almost unconsciously. "Then Sasuke was finished baking or whatever," Naruto said with a quick grin causing snorts of amusement, "and popped out. Then he pissed the bone guy off pretty bad. He stabbed me and you know, ouch, but it healed up pretty quickly."
It had been really bad. Beside me Sasuke stiffened, obviously remembering just how bad.
"I utilised the second stage of the curse mark," Sasuke said stiffly, gaining disapproving looks from Tsunade and Jiraiya. He'd probably already been told off for that. "Between the two of us, we regained the upper hand, and when the Sand shinobi showed up, we were able to defeat him."
It seemed… not enough. We'd said everything, but it still didn't encompass the terror and adrenaline and fear and pain… didn't cover the recovery most of us were still going through.
"Any questions?" Tsunade asked and though there was general shifting and glancing, no one wanted to ask. "Then I call this meeting over. You're all free to leave."
Ino was whisked off almost immediately, before any of us could try and talk to her. Shikamaru had a brief and hushed conversation with Chouji before hurrying after her.
"So that's what happened," Sasuke said. "That was the first time I heard…"
"Me too," I agreed. "I mean, I knew everyone was fine but I didn't know how the fights had gone." Everything had been so… rushed that fine was fine. But now that I knew… "Are you… okay, Naruto?"
He looked surprised. "Yeah, of course! Why wouldn't I be?"
"It just sounded pretty awful, that's all," I said carefully. "Having someone try and possess you like that." It wasn't like possession techniques were all that uncommon, but that had been an entirely different flavour to any he'd been exposed to before.
"Hah! No one can overpower the awesome that is Naruto Uzumaki!" He nearly bounced to his feet.
"You and your awesome better stay in that chair!" Tsunade threatened with a pointed finger. Naruto froze and slunk back down.
"Idiot," Sasuke muttered with a smirk. "Don't aggravate your injuries."
I let it go. Maybe I could have pushed the issue, but did I need to? Would it help? Would it make things worse? Sometimes 'fine' really meant 'fine'.
And the boys were bickering and the moment was gone…
Sometimes it was just easier to not.
"I don't want to go back down there," Sasuke said with a sigh, glancing at Jiraiya. "I'm not going to do anything."
"I think it's for your safety," I said quietly. "Not to confine you."
Sasuke glanced at me sharply. "You think he'll send more people?"
I hummed noncommittally. "Maybe. But… they had to get so close to Konoha somehow. It might be that there's already someone here."
They couldn't keep Sasuke tucked away forever though. And would the prisoners be able to identify … whoever it was? Was there a backup plan? I couldn't even begin to guess, and it was all, frustratingly, out of my hands.
Sasuke's hands were clenched into fists. He hated this, I knew, being a target and having other people in danger for him. He hated being helpless.
"Sorry," I whispered, unable to come up with anything reassuring.
We fell silent. Most of the others had drifted out of the room, leaving it feeling strangely empty and echoing after having been so full.
"Common, kiddo," Jiraiya said, jerking his thumb at the door. "Enough chit-chat. We've got places to be."
Sasuke rose, resigned. I hoped this didn't go on for too long, because he was starting to chafe under it already.
Awkwardly, I rose and approached Tsunade. I'd been putting this off, but it was probably time to fess up. "Ah, Hokage-sama. On our mission to the Land of Tea I … recovered a village artefact. The Sword of the Thunder God-"
"Kid, I've got bigger things to worry about right now," she cut in, a little wearily. "And I sure as hell don't want it. It's fine, you can keep it. There are probably some Special Jounin that'll rage about it, but fuck 'em, if they wanted it they could have got it back themselves."
I opened and closed my mouth soundlessly. I'd only been going to ask where she wanted me to hand it in. It was a village artefact! It was, in fact, a Senju family artefact. And she was-
I bowed hastily. "Thank you, Tsunade-sama."
She was letting me keep it.
I wandered away, dazed. I hadn't even entertained the possibility. Much. Not seriously, anyway. It had come in handy, but it wasn't like I was a sword fighter.
"I need to learn kenjutsu," I muttered out loud. Or the tanto. It had been on my list of things to learn eventually, which grew longer by the day.
There was a whole world of possibilities here. What happens when a sword that cuts chakra meets a sword that eats chakra? Which would win, the legendary sword of the leaf or the legendary sword of the mist? I couldn't even begin to guess. And that wasn't even starting on other circumstances where it could come in handy.
I breathed in, breathed out. There was still so much going wrong. But, maybe, the future wasn't hopeless.