plate of finished dumplings and hovered it high up in the air, way beyond her reach.
"Haku!"
Her dumplings!
"Learn to be patient."
She took this chance to start annoying him incessantly as he continues to fry the remaining dumplings. She could have simply jumped in the air with a chakra enhanced leap and snag all those dumplings by herself, but where's the fun in that?
"Haku~ Hurry it up already! I want to eat the dumplings!"
"Stop whining."
She jumped and latched onto his back, resting her head on his shoulders and watch him continue frying the dumplings expertly only with a pair of metal chopsticks in hand. She talked non-stop, uncaring if anyone else is in the kitchen or not. Let people talk all they want. So what if she is a jinchuriki? So what if people labelled him as 'mentally unstable'? So what if what she is doing now is behaviour unbefitting of a Hyuga? They both just came back from a close brush with death, who cares about what other people say?
"Get off me."
"Never!"
"How am I supposed to fry the dumplings with you clinging onto me?"
"You are a genius. You work something out."
He nearly stumbled from the extra weight on him when he tried to reach out for the nearby bottle of cooking oil to add to the frying pan. She barely managed to smother her laughter.
"You saw that. Seriously, let go. I can't continue to cook like this."
"Never!"
"You are heavy, so let go."
"Did you just say that I am heavy? That's it! I'm never letting go now!"
He groaned. She laughed.
"Go away, Hanabi."
"Never!"
She will never let him go. She will never leave his side.
Never again.
"How is your eyesight?"
"It's been stable ever since we tried the experiment. I used Kamui quite a lot to chase the Kumo nins out of the Land of Fire, and yet my eyesight had not deteriorated since. I think it is working."
"I see." Rin said quietly as she wrote something on her clipboard and then run one more diagnostic test with her medical expertise just to make absolutely sure. Injecting the cells of their First Hokage into his body is no laughing matter. The lifeforce of the former God of Shinobi is nothing to scoff at.
But if this breakthrough in medical technology can allow his clansmen to avoid total blindness in the future, to eradicate the barbaric practice of switching eyes between kinsmen for good, then he will gladly offer himself as a lab rat to be experimented on.
If this experiment proved to be successful, it will have significant effects on the Uchiha clan. It will be a step closer to abolishing that bloody and barbaric practice.
"I'm done."
At Rin's words, Obito sat up and wore his shirt again, covering the whitish patch on his torso that had been implanted with Hashirama's cells. Whether this allows him to use the fabled Wood Release remains to be seen, but Tsunade herself doubted it. Wood Release is not easy to use. To obtain a bloodline by simply injecting the cells of one that can use said bloodline limit is not going to cut it, or everyone would be doing that to get their hands on various bloodline limits by now. It's not that simple, even if some bloodline limits can be transferred with a simple transplant. However, that only applies to a select few.
"You'll be posted to the borders again, right? Sensei just informed me."
"I will try my best to come back alive." Obito said as he tried his best to reassure the love of his life, Rin. "Kakashi will be there too, so everything will be fine. We will watch each other's backs."
"You two better come back safe." She whispered as they both hugged each other. "I… I don't want to lose you, Obito. I nearly lost you in the last war, and I was so afraid I might lose you again when the invasion happened. You were facing Killer Bee."
"You won't lose me. It won't happen." He reassured her again, and he will do it as many times as he needs to.
For her, for his friends, for those he cares about, for his village, he will come back victorious if a war does break out. He will do it to protect those that he cares about.
"Obito?"
"Yes?"
"When you come back… let's get married."
Whatever words Rin spoke next, he doesn't know. His mind had stopped working.
"-to? Obito?"
"R-Rin?" He stuttered as he gently pulled her away and looked at her in the eyes. "Y-You are not pulling my leg, right?"
"I'm serious." Nohara Rin said with a slight disapproving frown, as if his words just offended her. The next moment, a gentle and happy smile broke out on her face with a hint of cheekiness.
"Is this enough incentive for you to come back alive now?"
"Y-Yes!" He exclaimed happily, sharingan whirling to life to imprint this particular memory into his mind for eternity. "Yes! Yes! YES!"
"I never thought we will be the first among our friends to get married, you know? But I guess now is a good time as any."
"I will inform Fugaku and Mikoto-sama about this arrangement before I leave. They will be happy to hear this."
Rin gave a hum of agreement.
"You are visiting Haku later, right?" Rin asked as she sat beside Obito and rested her tired head on his shoulders. It will be another long shift in the hospital today.
"I'm still busy here in the hospital, so I cannot go check on him as regularly as I like. Help me see if he is doing fine, will you?"
"I will. Don't worry, I won't fail them as their sensei again."
"Don't be too hard on yourself. Whatever happened wasn't your fault."
"I should have at least checked before going out on my missions."
"No one could have expected Tsunade-san to… whatever she did. We trusted her."
"I know even someone like her makes mistakes every now and then. Make no mistake, I'm angry at her, but what I'm angrier about is Kumo. This is the second time they spit in our faces. The Hyuga Affair, and now this. Our village had sincerely tried to be nice with them, and they just walked all over it. Nabi-chan and Haku-chan would have died if they weren't so lucky. I would have lost two students because these Kumo bastards are so paranoid of any village growing stronger than them. If it wasn't for Kumo, none of this shit would happen. Haku wouldn't have lost himself to madness and tried to escape reality."
Rin went silent a short while before speaking again.
"Tsunade-san is sincerely sorry for what she did, but knowing her prideful nature, she won't outright apologise."
Obito snorted.
"She's the granddaughter of the founder of our village, the grandniece of our Nidame, the student of our Sandaime, and the only Legendary Sannin left who so happens to be the greatest medic nin in the Elemental Nations. Who dares to be angry at her?"
"She came and talked to me. She wants to do something for shinobis who suffers from mental illnesses. I think it is her way of making amends and apologising to Haku."
"And how is she planning on doing it?"
"Haku's situation made us realise… that someone like him won't be the last we will see. With the way our world works, with wars happening every decade or two at the longest, there will always be children like him who are ill-adjusted to the shinobi life, who are mentally scarred for life because there isn't anyone who reached out to them in time to pull them out."
Obito nodded reluctantly at the truth of Rin's words. He's still mad at Tsunade, but considering she was the one who found the likely cure to his clan's problem of blindness from using the mangekyo, there are things that he cannot say outright. He has to consider his clan's plight. The weakness of the mangekyo is one that he really wants to see erased, even if it means tolerating the Senju Princess.
"We realised that while Konoha invest a lot in our shinobi's physical health, the same cannot be said for their psychological and mental health. There wasn't a need to because shinobis tend to die young, most of them died even before their mental illness got treated. It wasn't a worthwhile investment. But now, Haku's situation made us realised that shinobi world is indeed wrong, like what he said."
"Our village are also known for producing geniuses whose mental health isn't the best."
"Exactly. Orochimaru, Kakashi, even Itachi at one point when the third war is still ongoing. Did you know that even Itachi admitted to jumping off a cliff when he was five because he saw no meaning to life? That he wanted to know what death was, to see his true self so he tried jumping off a cliff? Thank Kami that he stopped himself before he ended up dead. And now Haku… It's like there will always be a few of ill-adjusted geniuses within every generation of our shinobis. If Konoha had some sort of system or framework that helps deal with a shinobi's mental health, to help them adjust to this violent world, maybe things would be better. Maybe Orochimaru wouldn't have gone rogue, maybe this invasion wouldn't even had happened at all. So many wouldn't have died."
Obito frowned a little. If Orochimaru hadn't gone rogue… hard to imagine.
"Tsunade and I decided to approach Inoichi-sama to discuss about the possibility of setting up some sort of support infrastructure to help shinobis with mental illness, especially for children. Inoichi-sama agreed immediately."
"Did you discuss this with sensei?"
"We did. He agreed, but we can only start after this period of crisis is over, since everyone is busy preparing our village from experiencing another possible war. That takes priority."
"Makes sense."
"The moment this is all over, Tsunade-san and I are going to learn more about healing mental trauma with Inoichi-sama's help. Hopefully, someone will never experience the same helplessness Haku did again. If only I had spotted this sooner…"
"You told me not to be too hard on myself, now I am returning your words back to you. Don't be too hard on yourself."
Rin sighed.
"Minato-sensei wants peace, and I do too. Really. I never really like combat all that much, which was why I decided to be a med nin. But if I don't have to be a med nin at all, because there is peace and so no one will ever need to see a med nin since they won't need to keep going on dangerous missions, I will be happy to give it all up."
"We will find peace one day." Obito said as his hold on her tightened, to reassure her the best he could. "Maybe not in our generation, but we can pave the road for the next one. We need to believe in the Will of Fire now more than ever."
The two of them remained in silence for another few more minutes, to enjoy some time together before Rin has to go and make her rounds again.
"Be safe." She whispered to him when she really has to go.
"I will."
His logical thinking had failed him.
It had never failed him before.
According to the book he read, he failed as a friend. He wasn't there when his friends needed him the most.
He couldn't understand why he failed, so he retraced his thoughts back to that day, trying to find a logical explanation through rational means.
The answer he arrived at, the reason why he missed that possibility, was because he forgot to account for human irrationality as a possible factor.
There were wartime practices that every Konoha shinobi would learn about the moment they became one. One such scenario even included the event of an invasion, and it was taught to everyone in the academy in their first year there. According to what he had learnt, in the case of an invasion and everything is simply too chaotic for anyone to keep a count of everyone else, and where everyone will be extremely worried about anyone else that they care about to maintain a level-headed mind, wartime protocol #12 will be invoked. The protocol's aim is to tally the number of alive, injured, and dead as soon as possible and to keep Konoha's shinobis going by giving the village's shinobis, as much as possible, a somewhat accurate account on who is still alive and dead.
Right after an invasion, everyone is worried for their loved ones, not knowing if they are dead or alive. If people know that their loved ones are still alive, then they would at least feel assured enough to keep going about doing their duties as shinobis of the village even if they didn't have a chance to see them until everything died down. Like what Tobi-sensei did when he was immediately sent out on an extermination mission right after the invasion ended.
Wartime protocol #12 works by utilising the power of word of mouth and placing faith in the village's Will of Fire. If a Konoha shinobi knew for sure that Comrades A, B, and C are still alive, he will pass the message on and let it circulate among their shinobi forces, so that anyone who is still out there searching for news of A, B, and C can at least have a peace of mind until they see them again. It is a method with a lot of faults, but in the case where an invasion really happened and everything is a chaotic mess, this is the best information network one is going to get until an official tally can be done.
Due to the Will of Fire Konoha believes in, logic would dictate that if Konoha Shinobi #1 spread the word that Comrades A, B, and C are alive, then Konoha Shinobi #1 will at least keep an eye out for them, or if they are injured, at least ensure that they are in good care before they go about doing their individual duties. Because they all believe in the Will of Fire, so they trust the words of their comrades without question in times of crisis. Everyone will take care of everyone else, to believe in strength through unity, that's what being a Konoha shinobi is about.
And so when everyone learnt that crackers-chan and girly-kun is in Tsunade's care, they all logically assumed that the Legendary Sannin would take care of them. Further logical thinking and past experiences with the two lovebirds on his team also supported the notion that crackers-chan and girly-kun are inseparable. Wherever one goes, the other will follow. So when he learnt that crackers-chan is in the hospital recovering from a near-death injury, his logical thinking led him to speculate that girly-kun must be in there too. By that extension, the both of them are safe.
Everyone he knew seemed to arrive at this same conclusion, given that no one checked any further when they learnt that Tsunade herself was the one who spread the word that they are alive and safe. They had all believed in the Slug Sannin and made the next logical assumption.
It was because of his wrongly construed thought back then, he chose to turn around and continued to help clean up the resulting mess instead of personally visiting his teammates, using his ink creations to move the injured and to rescue as many as he can like what he is supposed to do as a shinobi of Konohagakure.
On hindsight, he should at least go and verify his speculations. If he had at least done this extra step, then he would have found out earlier that girly-kun was actually locked in an underground cell instead of being in the hospital that he had assumed.
The books he read about making friends all wrote that friends should help each other in their time of need, and he wasn't there in girly-kun's time of need. Going by that logic, he is a bad friend. The worst kind of friend.
Somehow, that realisation made him feel…
What is it that he is feeling? He doesn't know.
He can tell that Tobi-sensei felt the same as well, that he too should have checked on the lovebirds on their team before going on his mission, that he shouldn't have just assumed when he too heard that they are in Tsunade's hands. Assumptions kills, that's what girly-kun used to say to him.
In any case, the past is in the past, like what crackers-chan like to remind girly-kun whenever he got lost in his thoughts. Right now, according to one of the books he read, is the time to make amends to his friends and show them that he is sincere in his apology. He needs to show them that he is indeed sorry for not being a dutiful friend to them when they had been nothing but helpful and understanding towards his social and emotionally stunted self.
He drew the first thing that came to mind. A picture of their team. The title of this artwork is named 'Team 13'.
Tobi-sensei assured him that the two of them will like it, and knowing them, they will not blame him for what happened. But he just cannot understand. According to what he learnt from the books he read, what he did is a violation of the sacred creed between friends, for not being there for them. That's what friends are for, right? To be there for each other.
He wasn't there for them, for crackers-chan when she had a hole punctured in her that should have killed her, for girly-kun when he was trapped in a place that allows his most negative thoughts to fester and consume him whole. Going by that logic, he failed as a friend, and the two of them had every right to be angry at him for not being a good friend.
So why did Tobi-sensei say that the two of them will not blame him?
He and Tobi-sensei finally had the chance to visit the two of them on the fourth day after girly-kun's discharge from the hospital. From what they knew from crackers-chan's siblings, girly-kun is making remarkable progress in his mental recovery. It's like he had rebounded somehow. Whatever crackers-chan said to him, it must have helped.
Crackers-chan also passed him and Tobi-sensei some not-so-subtle hints to them earlier through her siblings that they should really come over and visit, bringing them back to their current situation.
"I'm sorry."
He didn't understand the confused looks the two lovebirds send his way when he blurted it out the first thing he saw them.
"For what?"
"For not being there when you two needed me the most. We are a team, we are friends. According to-"
"Shut up, Sai."
Now, he's really confused. He can tell from the tone of their voice. Why are they not mad at him?
"Those books- urgh, I don't even know what to say." Crackers-chan facepalmed before opening her arms wide. "You know what? Screw words. You, Sai, are one of the best friends one can ask for. So don't be sorry when you have nothing to be sorry for. Now, come here so that we can all have a group hug. Yes, Haku, you too."
Crackers-chan literally glared at girly-kun with her byakugan active until he conceded, and crackers-chan glomped them all in a group hug.
"There, Team 13 is back again, everything's back to normal now."
"Awww, nabi-chan! Using this chance to secretly hug Haku-chan? Don't think I missed it! I tooootally saw that!"
"Shut up, sensei. If I want to hug Haku I will do it whenever I want however I want. I don't need excuses."
"Wait, since when did the two of you progress beyond the dating phase? Don't tell me… THE BOTH OF YOU K-K-KISSED?!" Tobi-sensei's voice got obnoxiously loud, hands waving around frantically, and his eyes comically wide as he began to panic from his inner turmoil. "OR MAYBE THE BOTH OF YOU HAD S-S-SEX?! OH KAMI-SAMA WILL I BE EXPECTING BABIES- "
Spikes of ice cut Tobi-sensei off, as per usual.
"Woah! Haku-chan! Are you really trying to murder your dear sensei?!"
"Yes. I am still deciding between letting you die a slow death by hypothermia or slowly expanding the water in your body to burst you like a balloon. Which one do you prefer, hmm?"
"Uh… none of the above?"
"Both of it together then. I'm sure I can find a way somehow."
"Nabi-chan! Save meeeee!" Tobi-sensei wailed dramatically as always before hiding behind the definitely not amused crackers-chan and use her as a shield against the freezing walking winter. Sai cannot help but wonder why sensei likes to act in this manner in front of them. Is this another part of social interaction that he hadn't learnt about yet?
He should really start jotting some notes down. This is a rare learning opportunity.
Crackers-chan simply ignored their sensei cowering behind her. She turned to girly-kun with an unreadable expression on her face.
"Whatever you do, just don't get my hair wet. Other than that? You have my full support to mutilate this man-child however you wish."
"With pleasure."
"Oh, wait! Wait!" Tobi-sensei succeeded in making girly-kun take a pause from trying to invent one thousand and one creative ways to torture their sensei. "Sai said that he has a gift for you two!"
On cue, Sai gave everyone a scroll each. He himself has one.
"Open it up."
"This-! It's… It's beautiful, Sai." Crackers-chan was the first to react and from the expression that he identified as pleasant surprise showing on her face, Sai knew that she loved his gift. "Thank you."
"It's beautiful." Girly-kun seems to share the same feelings, a small smile on his face. "Thank you, Sai. As always, your drawings are beautiful."
The Team picture he drew for each of them, Team 13. It seems that everybody likes his gift.
And for some reason, he has a feeling that the smile that he currently has on his face is not a fake one.
"You are welcome, team."
"Oh! OH! I just remembered!" Hanabi jumped up and down excitedly as she quickly pulled him and their sensei along. "Since you guys are here, you two should totally try this out! It's fun!"
"Try what out?"
"You'll see!"
"Huno?"
Obito picked up the weird stack of cards that are colour coded into four different colours. It is a handmade card game Hanabi told them that Haku had invented just two days ago, a family friendly game that everyone can play. Hanabi had complained that the atmosphere in the clan and in the village is at an all-time gloom and doom, and Obito had to agree.
Gloom and doom is really the best description he can think of right now to describe the village. The idea of a possible war looming over the horizon can do that to everyone. Things are not looking good for Konoha even if their Yondaime had tried his best to keep their village's losses to a minimum.
As an heiress of her clan, Hanabi felt that she should at least try something to help lift the spirits of her clansmen up. In response to Hanabi's worry, Haku had invented this card game for Hanabi. From what Obito knew, Haku did this just for her, so that she can stop fussing and worrying about her clansmen.
According to Hanabi, the new card game is extremely fun that it made the mood in the clan much more cheery, and this card game is now a huge hit in the Hyuga clan even if it was just introduced mere days ago. It is so popular that every family in the Hyuga clan had made their own copy with what they have. The only female on their team had immediately shepherd him and Sai to try it out the moment they got here.
"Not Huno, Uno."
"And you invented this… out of boredom?"
"It was to shut Hanabi up."
"Hey!"
"How do you play this? What is this card anyway? Wild Draw 4? What a weird name."
"Trust me, you will grow to either really love it, or really hate this card."
"What are the rules?"
"Let's play one practice round first, shall we?"
"UNO! Hah! Take that! Your dear sensei is going to win this!"
A brief silence fell upon the four of them where they are sitting on the floor of Haku's bedroom playing this new card game. Every ounce of their shinobi training kicked in, and all of them have their shinobi poker face on.
This is war, no mercy needs to be shown.
Well, the war will end soon. After all, he's going to win this! Who is he? He's Uchiha Obito, the next Hokage of Konohagakure!
Right before his next turn came about, for him to put his last card down and win this game, Sai still had the creepy fake smile on his face as his fingers went to slowly pick out a card from his hand.
Obito watched in dawning horror as the fake smile grew bigger and bigger as Sai's hand motion slowed dramatically when he put down that card.
"Wild Draw 4, Tobi-sensei."
That damn smile.
"ARRRGGHHH!"
"Skip."
"Nabi-chan! I was about to win! Why did you skip my turn?!"
"It is precisely you are about to win that I skip your turn."
"Guys, we need to prevent Tobi-sensei from winning. Anyone can win but him."
"Agreed."
"W-Wait. What? How can you guys do this to your adorable sensei?!"
"Anyone have a Draw card?"
"I do."
"GUYS!"
"Good, keep it stacking."
"Got it. Draw 2."
"Another one here."
"Draw 2. It's a total of 6 now, sensei. Draw 6 for you."
"WHHHYYYYYYY?!"
"Reverse."
"…"
"We know you don't have any cards in your hand that you can use, sensei. Stop wasting time and just draw from the draw pile."
One, two, three, four,…
"Wow, he sure has crappy luck."
Five, six…
"Still haven't found an appropriate card?"
"Shut up, minions."
"You used your sharingan and still lost?"
"… Shut up."
"Sensei, you really suck, you know that?"
"So this is the expression one uses when they experienced total defeat and humiliation…"
Damn it, Sai.
"Why did I agree to be a jonin sensei?"
"Because you love us?"
"Because you have to?"
"Because Kakashi became one and you don't want to lose to your eternal rival?"
"I hate you guys."
After spending a few hours in the Hyuga compound and experiencing thirteen humiliating straight losses, Obito walked out of the compound with his head hung low and an air of defeat hanging around him like hovering rain clouds.
Well, at least he now knows that Haku is on his way to a full and speedy recovery. His own dignity is a small price to pay for his student's welfare.
"Here."
And Hanabi had given him a copy of these admittedly fun Uno cards for him to play with anyone he wants in his free time. It will help make missions a lot more bearable when he needs to find something to do to pass any idle time when he inevitably gets posted to the frontlines soon. He is almost certain that a war will erupt anytime now with how tense things are between their village and Kumo.
Suna had realigned themselves with Konoha when they found out that their Kazakage was being impersonated by Orochimaru. Konoha had let it go in favour of a new alliance between Suna and Konoha since Konoha is in no place to go around making more enemies. The same goes for Suna, and Suna also don't have much trust in Kumo or any other of the Big Five. Konoha is probably the best candidate for them to ally with, realistically and geographically. The only reason Suna and Kumo had a joint invasion was because of the insistence of their 'Kazekage'. An alliance between Suna and Konoha will be beneficial to both sides. Oto is now a mess without Orochimaru around and there is a lack of a clear leader to take over the place and rule the minor village. No one bothered to deal with it since they are now a non-threat and there is no further gain for them to do anything to Oto.
Otogakure is no more, that leaves Kumo, which is still unrepentant for their actions and is still adopting an aggressive stand towards Konoha.
"Don't lose too many rounds in Uno, sensei."
Obito's right eye twitched in annoyance when he was pulled out of his thoughts by Haku.
"Don't use your sharingan to cheat, because it won't work anyway. It will hurt your ego even more when you lose with your sharingan active."
Obito glared at Hanabi. Cheeky brat.
Obito sighed before both his hands rested on the lovebirds' heads and ruffled them.
Truthfully, being a jonin sensei is a tough job, and he doesn't think he had done a very good job in guiding them unlike what Minato did for him. Hanabi had improved drastically in the one month he tutored her, but Sai is still socially stunted and Haku's problems had never truly gone away while the boy was under his care.
Even the Bakashi is a better sensei than he will ever be.
"Well, in any case I'm just glad that the both of you are still alive." He said truthfully to the two little minions that he had nearly lost forever. "I will definitely be posted to the borders soon, in case another war breaks out, and I have no idea when I would return. But I will make sure to kill Darui when I see him, I promise."
"Make sure you put holes in him." Hanabi added. "What he did to me was painful."
"Got it." Obito said with a smile before he turned to the wielder of ice.
"As for you, don't give us another scare like that, okay?"
Haku averted his gaze in guilt, but gave a silent nod.
"Good." Obito gave the biggest smile he can, just in case this somehow became the last smile he will ever give them as their sensei. You never know what will happen to you in war, no matter how strong you are. Anything can happen out there, he learnt that in his participation in the last one.
"According to the book I read, now should be the time to wish you a safe return."
"Burn them all, sensei."
"Just come back alive."
Obito wordlessly turned around and walked down the street, the warm orange rays of the setting sun shining down on his back as he gave his students a lazy wave of his hand as farewell.
Heh, now that his cute little minions had said that, he couldn't possibly go out there and lose now, can he? Besides, Kumo had just listed his cute little lovebirds as S Rank threats, to be dealt with extreme prejudice.
And would you look at that? Two of his minions had reached S Rank just a few months into their shinobi career. Sai himself is also definitely a solid chunin in strength. If it were any normal scenario, he would be bursting with pride. He still is, but only if such recognition of the lovebirds' strength didn't come at such a hefty price. Now, everyone will be watching his two lovebirds, waiting for any chance to eliminate them before they grow into their full potential, because they are just too talented.
As their sensei, he cannot allow them to come to harm. He will protect them, because he is their sensei.
In that case, then he will kill all who poses a threat to his cute little minions.
He will remind Kumo once more why he, Uchiha Obito, is called the Phantom of Konoha.
Things had improved greatly since then, in Hanabi's opinion.
The day after their sensei left, Haku decided to heed everyone's advice and go out to take a walk. Cooping himself in the compound all the time couldn't be healthy for his mind.
They decided to go find the rest of their fellow rookies. From what Sai said when he came to pick them up, they are helping out to clear up the mess in the village to restore their village back to its former glory. In that case, they will go and help out too. It's just not right to be sitting back and relaxing at home when all of their friends are out there hard at work, especially so when the both them are fine now.
From what she found out from her father, Suna surrendered unconditionally, saying that they were manipulated into participating in the invasion since their Kazekage was killed and was impersonated by Orochimaru dating at least a few months back. The invasion was technically Orochimaru's idea, and they only just found that out.
Kumo, however, still have some beef against them. It's always Kumo.
To add on, Haku and her also face discrimination from their fellow villagers. She because of her new jinchuriki status, and he because of what he did to save her.
Haku is now officially on the shit list of many of their own comrades for what he did for her sake. He had jeopardised the safety of the entire village just for a chance to save her, although it had benefitted Konoha in the end. Everyone is torn about what to do with him, but their Yondaime's last words had included a pardon for Haku, and Haku's attempted suicide isn't a big secret given the commotion it made. There were also sympathisers to Haku's plight, so it isn't all that bad for him.
In the end, people either let Haku be out of respect for their late Yondaime, continue to badmouth him, or actually understood Haku's plight and turned a blind eye.
Still, Hanabi is not that naïve. She knows that there will be consequences and lingering sentiments about what Haku did. Hopefully, with Minato as the Hokage now, he will be able to shield Haku from the backlash as much as possible.
Taking on a Tailed Beast on his own.
That. Stupid. Idiot.
Urrrrrgghh!
But then again, she cannot help but smile when she thinks about the lengths that he will go to just to keep her alive. Idiot. He's really an idiot.
Now that she is a jinchuriki, her status is different. Her life now belongs to the village (not exactly that different from being a shinobi for the village, but the weight behind the meaning is a lot heavier now), she is now a tool for the village. People will fear her just for having an oversized cat in her gut. She will be ostracised by those who cannot understand what she had sacrificed to keep everyone safe from Matatabi.
She admits it scares her a little, that those she views as her friends and comrades might turn on her simply for housing the cat, but she knows Haku will be there for her. He had always been there for her no matter what happened, and she will always be there for him to pull him out if he ever goes too deep. If he's there, then she thinks she can handle all the incoming hate.
There will probably be restrictions imposed on her as well. Kushina explained that it is to protect her since she is now an extremely valuable asset to Konoha. Kushina will start on training her how to properly utilise Matatabi's powers the moment her chakra control is back to normal. Kushina will train her alongside Naruto. There's now an urgent need for the both of them to master this power.
Another war might break out.
Kumo is still aggressively hostile towards Konoha. Even when it had suffered considerable losses from the failed invasion, it is still strong in military might. Suna is not that big of a threat. Assuming that even if there is no Suna-Konoha alliance, even if Suna wanted to try and pick up from where they had left off, they had already lost their Kazekage, and they are dry on resources to begin with. They don't have what it takes to continue what they started even if they wanted to. Konoha lost two Kage level shinobis along with many of their elites in the unexpected invasion. Having two rampaging Tailed Beasts within their village had been the main cause behind the losses. Would have been three Tailed Beasts if Haku didn't stop Gaara.
Iwa is still silent as far as anyone knows, but Konoha and Iwa had always been enemies. There is a high chance that Iwa might make a move against Konoha as well, maybe they might even ally themselves with Kumo to take Konoha out. Kiri is still a place shrouded in mystery denser than the fog surrounding the country. No one knows what exactly is going on in there.
Discounting Kiri, the Suna-Konoha alliance is definitely in a weaker position than a possible Iwa-Kumo one. Iwa and Kumo have every reason and advantage now to press on for war against them. They have the upper hand. That is not counting the minor villages that might have a grudge against Konoha for whatever reasons. The current situation is not advantageous to Konoha at all. All it takes is for someone to spark another conflict as huge as the invasion, and another world war may erupt.
In response, Konoha is now working overtime to prevent and to also prepare for such a possibility. Now that Hanabi is a jinchuriki, she is expected to harness and control Matatabi's powers for Konoha's sake, and as soon as possible. It brought her thoughts back to the discussion her team had in the Forest of Death, about peace and about the society that they live in. Sai had said that shinobis are simply tools to the village, and tools have no need for emotions or a sense of self. Is this what he was talking about?
She is starting to detest this part of being a shinobi.
The glares directed at her, both fearful and distrustful, got more intense the further they walked towards the centre of their village.
She cannot understand why people look at her this way, as if she might explode and the cat will come out to play the moment she so much as cough. And yes, she now has a flaming cat capable of wanton destruction sealed within her, but she's still her. She's still Hyuga Hanabi of Konohagakure. Nothing has changed.
So why is everyone around them that is not her teammates looking at her with such poorly concealed fear?
She had ignored it the first time she stormed over to the Hokage Tower to bring her Haku back. She never thought that much about it after that since she was in her clan compound all this time until now, but is this what Kushina and Naruto had warned her about? What it really means to be a jinchuriki? How did they endure such glares for all of their lives? She's only out here for a few minutes and already she's starting to feel a little uncomfortable from the stares being directed at her. And this is only the street right outside her clan compound, she cannot imagine what would happen the moment she stepped out of here and walk around the village's main street.
Haku had obviously noticed the stares as well, seeing as how he subtly shifted his body to block the glares directed at her. So did Sai.
Haku also received glares, probably for releasing Matatabi within Konoha to save her. He willingly incurred the hate and wrath of their fellow villagers just to save her.
"How's the rest of them doing?"
Haku's question got her to turn her head to Sai as well.
"Ugly lost her father, she was devastated and locked herself in her house for quite a long while. No one saw her until recently." Sai said quietly. "But in the end, she decided to cope with her grief by keeping herself busy. So she's with the rest of us rookies doing the cleaning up. Boobless and duck-ass are with her most of the time keeping an eye on her. Ugly's coping quite well all things considered, she's mostly okay now once she let it all out after the Yondaime's funeral. The rest of them are doing fine as far as I can tell."
Oh right, she missed the Yondaime's funeral because she was unconscious and in the hospital. Haku did not like the Yondaime much, but she can tell that he is grateful to the Yondaime since he had played a crucial role in getting her to stay alive until Matatabi was sealed in her. She is unable to thank the Yondaime now, but she will remember to pass on her thanks for the Yondaime to Sakura when she has the chance to speak with her in private. She deserves to hear this.
The three of them walked in silence, purposely taking the route with lesser people when they noticed that the glares the villagers are giving them intensified even further.
The stares that constantly reminds her about her new status as a jinchuriki. She can hear the not-so-quiet whispers again.
The freak. The cat. The monster.
Is this what she will experience for the rest of her life?
"Just say the word, and I will freeze them." Haku spoke up, bringing her thoughts back to reality.
"I can hide the bodies." Sai offered. "Tobi-sensei can erase the memories of all witnesses with his sharingan. No one would notice if a few bodies were added to the death toll. There are still new bodies turning up every now and then from all the wreckage."
Hanabi cannot help but giggle.
"Thanks, guys."
"LOOK! IT'S HANABI-CHAN AND HAKU-NII!"
Naruto's hollering got their heads turning to the source of the voice. Right in front of them where a large crater filled with debris and strewn weapons are is where their friends are located, who are now running up to them.
"Hanabi-chan! Haku-nii! You are alright!"
"Hn. Stop stating the obvious, dobe."
"Sasuke, be nice."
"Are you two feeling okay? Uh… want a chip?"
"I knew you lovebirds are too troublesome to stay dead. Welcome back."
"Shika! That's not how you greet people!"
"Hanabi-chan's and Haku-kun's flames of youth burns bright and strong! Yosh! To celebrate this joyous occasion, I will-"
"Lee. Don't."
"It's nice to have you back, Hanabi, Haku. Why? Because you are our comrades and the Rookie 15 wouldn't be the Rookie 15 without the both of you."
"Wow, Hanabi. You actually smell like a cat now. I thought you were a dog person? What happened to dog pals for life? I'm hurt."
Akamaru gave a few barks of agreement as the friendly ninken went to slobber her with his tongue as his way of saying hello.
"See? Akamaru agrees with me."
"Well, nobody says I cannot be both a cat and a dog person." Hanabi retorted to Kiba's words with her hands on her hips. Her eyes are getting a little moist, but she blinked them away.
"Are you two sure you are feeling well enough to walk around?" Neji asked in concern with a frown on his face. "Don't push yourself too hard."
"I-I'm fine! Haku's fine too! Really! S-See?" Hanabi cried out in half exasperation and half happiness as she used a finger to dab away the tears from her eyes. The village might shun her, but thankfully her friends and family didn't.
To her, that is enough. She's happy.
"Let's just go back to work." Haku cut them off. "If Hanabi said she's fine, then she's fine."
"Awwww, coming to your girlfriend's rescue! How sweet!" Ino cooed with her hands clasped together in that annoying high-pitched voice of hers, purposely ignoring the murderous glares Hanabi and Haku are sending her way.
"I agree. According to the book I read about-"
"Shut up, Sai."
"… Why only me? Why is it always me? Beautiful was talking too."
"WAIT WAIT WAIT. Hold on a sec." Kiba waved his hands frantically before scooting up to Sai and slung an arm around the artist's shoulders. He cupped his ear with his other hand, as if trying to make absolutely sure that he wasn't hearing things.
"I must have heard wrongly. What nickname did you give Ino again?"
"Beautiful."
Hanabi is sure that her jaws aren't the only one that is hanging in mid-air right now.
"What? Nicknames are given in a way that best suit the person's characteristics, right? At least that was what the book said."
"And you called me Ugly." Sakura deadpanned.
"I'm just being honest."
"SAI!"
"Woah woah! Cool down, Sakura-chan! TEME! Help me out here! Sakura-chan's too strong! Sakura-chan! CALM DOWN!"
"What is Ugly so mad about?"
"SAI, JUST SHUT UP!"
"CHA! THAT'S IT! DON'T HOLD ME BACK, NARUTO, SASUKE! IMMA KILL HIM! SHANNARO!"
"What are you waiting for, Sai? Run!"
Hanabi realised that there's really a lot to be done when it comes to cleaning up the mess.
The higher ranking shinobis are mostly involved in the more important stuffs that is too confidential or dangerous for genins like them to be involved, so the grunt work are mostly delegated to genins with a few chunins deployed to supervise them. Clearing the debris is one thing. The other thing is picking up whatever discarded weapons or ninja tools they can find. These can either be reused or melted down to be recycled. In this time of crisis where a war may or may not break out anytime soon, they have to make use of anything they can find and scavenge.
Like Sai had mentioned, dead bodies still turned up every now and then even if the invasion had ended more than a week ago by now. These bodies are sealed in a scroll that is marked with a black band or coloured with a black marker or ink, the universal colour for death. This is so that when these scrolls are handed back to the people assigned to sort through the collected items, they would know what to expect when unsealing the contents and not get a nasty surprise. There are other colour coding too. Green is for medical supplies, red is for weapons, just to list a few. These are what they had all learnt during their time in the academy, they only just got the chance to practice what they had learnt now.
There are lots of debris strewn about, which they either sealed away so that they can clear it faster or manually break it down into smaller pieces and move it aside for the professionals to clean them up later. The latter practice is more often used because Konoha cannot afford to be using too many scrolls for such a menial task. Only the truly big and troublesome debris are sealed away to be disposed of later.
"Hey, another dead body! I smell it!" Kiba called out just as Akamaru barked in affirmation. "Hinata! Ten o' clock! Give me some confirmation!"
"I see it too. Kumo shinobi." Hinata said with a nod of her head, byakugan active. "We need to first move away the debris though."
"Let me." Choji volunteered as he enlarged his arms. With a single motion, the large piece of concrete was lifted up into the air as Sai's drawings went to drag the body out.
"Argh! The damn smell!" Kiba complained as he pinched his nose the moment the smell of rotting flesh wafted in the air. Akamaru imitated his partner's actions with a whimper and paws covering his nose. His actions were copied by several of their friends as well. It does stink.
The body was quickly frozen by Haku in a coffin of ice to prevent the rotting smell from destroying everyone's noses. A quick minor application of a wind-based jutsu blew the remaining offending smell away.
"I'm sure this was my work." Hanabi said as she peered at the mangled corpse encased in the coffin of ice, whose death is definitely brought about by extreme burns. They are now in the same area where they had been fighting during the invasion, right before Yugito Nii made her appearance. The location and timing fits. This has to be her work. The burns said so.
"What is this now? An art exhibition?" Ino asked dryly although her comment was ignored. The entire group had been comparing and making comments or guesses on how enemy shinobis were killed, which shinobis they knew that might have killed them, and who did it better during the entire duration the moment they dug another corpse out. If they found the corpse of a shinobi that is from Konoha, they would give a respectful silent prayer to their fallen comrades before sealing it away in a scroll meant only to contain the bodies of their deceased comrades.
Enemy shinobis though, were quickly frozen in coffins of ice by Haku and laid out on display for all to see. Doing grunt work is boring, they all need some sort of entertainment to help pass the time.
And all fifteen of them really have some vengeful steam to vent after the invasion. Right now, this is the only way they can do it that is not done in a destructive manner.
"I'm sure that Suna shinobi was killed by me. I was here with crackers-chan, and the slash mark on his neck fits. I remember slashing him with my Tanto." Sai added as he pointed to another coffin of ice nearby that houses said shinobi.
"No, I'm sure it's me." Tenten made her disagreement known immediately. "Those shurikens on him are definitely my work."
"That may be true, weapons-chan, but I'm sure I'm the one that dealt the killing blow."
"See the spots of slight chakra burns on his arm? That was the work of Gentle Fist, no doubt. I'm the one who killed him." Neji stated with his arms crossed.
"My hip and cool rival! Look at what I found!"
Lee's loud voice got everyone turning and they nearly gagged at the smell and sight.
"LEE! STOP WAVING THE CORPSE AROUND!"
True to Sakura's words, Lee is half-dragging, half-waving a rotting and mangled corpse about when he is trying to show everyone his 'achievement'. The half-rotten head of the Oto shinobi is barely attached to his neck.
"The cause of death of this one is definitely by blunt force." Haku said after he froze the corpse in a casing of ice and doused Lee with a huge blast of water to 'wash away the germs', in his own words.
"That's right! I remembered this particular adversary! I ended his youth in a single kick!" Lee said excitedly. "Beat that! My eternal rival!"
Neji simply pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath.
"Anymore corpses before I seal them all up?" Haku asked in favour of directing Lee's attention to somewhere else.
"None as far as I can see." Hinata said as Kiba gave a nod of affirmation with his fingers still pinching his nose. Shino merely gave a silent nod.
"Right." Haku laid out a scroll on the ground before unrolling it. He levitated the numerous coffins of ice and placed it above the unrolled scroll. A simple hand seal later, the corpses are now sealed within the scroll.
"Here." Sai offered his brush when Haku had rolled the scroll back, and Haku used the ink from the brush to mark a band of black along the centre of the scroll, colouring it in the correct colour code.
"Haku-nii! We finished picking up the weapons!"
Naruto waved energetically with the other group of the Rookie 15 from where they are as they made their way to them, a red coded scroll in hand.
"Stop shouting, dobe."
"Let's get a move on, the debris disposal team will get rid of the rest. We need to move to the southern district to continue picking up weapons and finding bodies." Shikamaru said with a yawn. "We still have a few more sites to tour after that. What a drag. Even after so many days we are still not done with this."
"Let's race there! To the southern district!" Naruto exclaimed as she bounced on her feet excitedly, her finger pointing excitedly and dramatically in said direction. "Last one to reach treats everyone to Ichiraku!"
"Yakiniku Q? Please?" Choji asked with a slight hint of desperation. "I want my meat."
"YOSH! I will win this race! If I don't, I will-"
"We will decide the place later." Neji cut Lee off with practiced ease.
"Heh, a race does sound nice." Sasuke, ever the competitive Uchiha, said with a smirk as he adjusted the arm warmers he wore.
"Akamaru and I are so going to win this!"
"Are there any rules?" Ino said with confidence, and Hanabi is sure that the Yamanka heiress have some sort of evil plan in her mind. What is it exactly is anyone's guess.
"How about a free-for-all?" Sai added with a smile that is too wide to be natural. "Anything goes."
"You can fly. That's cheating." Tenten accused.
"Ah, I got found out. I will need to work on how to lie properly."
"We are shinobis, Tenten. Cheating is part of the job description."
"Don't regret this, Neji. If that's the case, I'm going to cheat my way to victory."
"What a drag. But it will be even more of a drag if I lose. Troublesome."
"A race will be fun. Why? It can help to lift the otherwise dreary mood brought about by the invasion."
"I'm so winning this!" Hanabi exclaimed as she jumped up in excitement to stick her feet onto a nearby wall, warming up for the start of the race.
Only for the wall to explode upon coming into contact with her chakra.
"Hanabi!"
Just as she thought she will fall and land onto the ground, a pair of arms caught her and shielded her from the falling debris. Haku's worried face looked down at her as her brain froze, not registering what just happened.
Their friends had crowded around her by now, their expressions equally worried.
"What just happened?" Choji asked in concern.
"She used too much chakra to stick onto the wall." Shikamaru pointed out. "See the hole on it? Just how much chakra did you use, Hanabi?"
"I..." Hanabi said in a daze as Haku let her down from his arms. She had thought she had relearned her chakra control enough to at least do tree walking properly. It worked well enough when she practiced at her clan's training grounds.
So why?
"Must be the Nibi's influence." Haku stated. "Your chakra reserve is probably still increasing and adjusting from having a Tailed Beast sealed within you. It will take a while before your chakra reserve stabilise to a set level. Until then, you will have to keep getting used to adjusting to the constant change to your chakra reserve, which means your chakra control will have to make constant adjustments accordingly until your chakra levels stabilise. Gaara, Yugito, Bee. All of the jinchurikis we met have large chakra reserve as far as I know, thanks to the beast sealed within them. You are no different, since you are a jinchuriki now."
She knew. She knew about this, but that doesn't mean she wants to accept it. Her chakra control, the one part of her which she is so proud of because she's always had been the best in this department, is now gone? Just like that?
And she had practiced so hard to get her chakra control back too, right after having Matatabi sealed within her. She had thought she had gotten most of her chakra control back only to find her chakra reserves still fluctuating madly. All her hard work is gone, again.
Not wanting to accept this, she placed a hand on a nearby broken slab of concrete wall before trying to slowly release chakra through her palm, little by little, doing it carefully like how she was taught when she first started learning the Gentle Fist under her father.
She didn't quite succeed. Her chakra was uncontrollable as it rushed out of her palm, like a torrent of raging water breaking through a dam the moment she called upon it. The wall exploded at her touch.
"Holy- Hanabi! What was that?!" Kiba shouted in shock from where he is as Hanabi clenched her outstretched hand to forcefully calm herself down.
Damn it. If it wasn't for that stupid Darui, she wouldn't be like this. It's always. KUMO. She's really, really, really, really, really starting to hate them now. With passion.
Oh how she will enjoy razing the village down when she finally mastered using Matatabi's powers. It will be irony at its finest, since Matatabi had traditionally belonged to Kumo. He doesn't know if Obito-sensei will find him, but she is so going to barbeque the laser guy for doing this to her when she sees him, and also if Haku doesn't get his hands on him first. He can be really protective of her.
And she really secretly enjoys seeing him being protective of her.
But still, it doesn't change the fact that her chakra control is busted. Years of her hard work in mastering her chakra control, gone. Just like that. The thought of it never stung so badly until now, when her loss of her famously impeccable chakra control had been made so painfully obvious in front of everyone.
Damn it!
"Relax." Haku said as he held onto her wrist, pulling her back out of her anger and frustration. "Hanabi. Focus. Look at me."
Haku's words managed to snap her out of her funk as she looked up to him. It was then that she realised that she was actually leaking portions of Matatabi's chakra about when she was lost in her thoughts.
Shit. She nearly lost control.
"It's not the end of the world. Your chakra control is still there, you just have to get used to learning how to control such a huge reserve of chakra. Sai, brush."
Wordlessly, Sai handed Haku his ink-filled brush.
With a few swift strokes, a seal is painted on the back of her left hand. Hanabi looked back up at Haku. What is this seal for?
"Try again."
She placed her palm on another broken wall beside her. A few of her classmates wisely took a few steps back in case it exploded again. Only Haku, Sai, and her siblings didn't.
Her hand stuck onto the wall like she had hoped.
"How?" She asked in amazement as she cut off the flow of chakra to her palm.
"Seals can do anything." Haku replied in a smug tone as he handed the brush back to Sai. "This seal won't last forever though, probably an hour or two at the most since it is one I came up with on the spot. It is supposed to contain and restrict the chakra on a target, but for someone like you with such a huge chakra reserve, it would act more like a filter or funnel. The amount of chakra the seal is allowing you to use should be within your comfort zone. Until your chakra reserve finally stabilises and you relearn your chakra control again, you might need to rely on something like this for a while."
"COOOL!" Naruto shouted with literal sparkles in her eyes.
"So, race? Yes? No?"
"Well… if you want to lose so badly..." Sasuke taunted as he looked at Kiba, sharingan already activated and the competitive Uchiha streak back in full force.
"You are so going down, Sasuke. Right, Akamaru?"
Kiba's loyal partner gave a few barks of affirmation, tail wagging happily.
"What are we waiting for? Let's start!" Naruto whooped as she picked up a pebble from the ground. She flicked it up into the air with her thumb, and the entire Rookie 15 waited with bated breath for it to drop.
Chaos ensued the moment the pebble touched the ground.
Naruto had immediately created Shadow Clones to throw her like a javelin, and then proceeded to create more of these clones in mid-air to allow her to continue her artificial propelled flight as her clones threw her through the air. Sasuke had sped off, and so did Sakura. Choji had enlarged himself into a human tank and started rolling. Shikamaru had used his shadows to trip Ino and Kiba to get a head start, much to their chagrin. Shino is using the bugs swarming out of his sleeves to obstruct everyone's vision. Hinata went unnoticed and slipped under everyone's radar as she ran off with Neji. Lee had taken off his weights and disappeared in a green blur, only to find himself dragging Tenten along because she had wrapped a ninja wire around him and used him to pull her around, not like the youthful Green Beast of Konoha noticed the extra weight. Sai had taken off into the air with the bird he drew and animated to life.
"You are not moving?" Hanabi asked as she nudged Haku with her elbow, who is simply standing beside her and shrugged at her words. The two of them watched calmly as their friends slowly disappeared into the horizon in their mad race to the southern district of the village. No one wants to be the one to treat Naruto to Ichiraku. That can make anyone go bankrupt.
"It is much more fun to watch them struggle. Need I remind you that I am someone who is able to keep up with the Raikage's speed, even if it was a short while? It would not be fair to them if I don't give them a head start. Need to give them the illusion that they could win before I crush their hopes and dreams."
Hanabi crossed her arms and gave an exaggerated nod.
"That's so cruel and mean of you, but I approve."
"What about you? Not running along?"
"Waiting for you to bring me along."
"Who said I will bring you along?"
"Me."
"I can just leave you behind."
"You won't."
The rest of their friends had disappeared beyond the broken walls of debris by now. Wow, they really are fast. Motivation is really a powerful thing to behold.
"Let's go." Haku relented as he created a pane of ice in front of them and placed a hand on her shoulder. He can teleport them to the endpoint in a split second simply by creating ice mirrors across the sky for him to jump across instantaneously until he reaches the southern district. Like he said, there's no competition at all. It is not a boast if he can actually do it.
She idly wonders what their friends' expressions will be when they found out they got played, that Haku is the biggest cheater out of them all. His Ice Release is really too versatile.
"We will probably have the rights to choose where to eat later, since we will be the first to reach. What do you want to eat? Anything in mind?" He asked as he looked at her.
"Anything that is not Ichiraku." She replied with a shudder. "I'm sick of that salty broth. Kushina-san feeds us so much ramen that it can last us a lifetime."
"I will leave you to deal with Naruto's whining then."
"Deal." She said with a laugh as they phased and merged with his ice mirrors, allowing him to bring her along using his ice mirrors to win this race.
Life's not always fair to her, but with him around, everything will be alright. Life had never been fair to him too, but she will be there for him, so everything will also be alright.
As long as the two of them stick by each other's side, everything will be alright.