Chapter 6 -> Part 6

When we made it back to the village, it was nearly noon of the next day. The two youngest were about to fall over with exhaustion. I should have been tired as well, but considering part of Sakumo's training had consisted of functioning when exhausted, combined with I trick I had devised by combining theories from my world and medical Ninjutsu of this world, I could theoretically stave off the need for sleep indefinitely. I didn't dare try it for more than twenty-four hours at my current age.

Jiraiya dropped the Kumo nin at the front gate with a pair of Chuunin before putting a hand on the back of my neck and all but dragging my reluctant ass to the Hokage's office, Minato and Kushina trailing behind, their feet dragging. Sakumo met us at the entrance without a word and grabbed my arm tightly so Jiraiya could escort his Genin inside, a hand on each of their shoulders. It didn't take long for us to appear in front of the Hokage. There were four other people in the room. One I immediately recognized as Danzō by the X on his chin, who had the other two council members flanking him. The finely dressed redhead, the only person in the room who remained seated when we walked in could only be Uzumaki Mito.

The Sandaime motioned for a report. Jiraiya, the highest ranking of us, began.

Around midnight, Jiraiya had found the note (which he placed on the Hokage's desk along with the shuriken marked with my hair) when he had stopped by the apartment to deliver orders to Kushina, assuming Minato would be there as well, since he hadn't returned to the orphanage. I was slightly annoyed by the fact that he thought delivering orders at midnight to two Genin who should have been asleep at that hour was a perfectly okay thing to do. He noticed the hair and immediately returned to the training ground where he had last seen Kushina, correctly assuming it would be the trail he needed to follow. It hadn't taken him long to pick up the trail and race after us. He caught up to us while we were planning to intercept the Kumo team and decided to remain hidden until he was needed. After describing the fight and summarizing the aftermath, Jiraiya motioned for me to give my report.

"I had just arrived at my apartment complex when Minato told me that Kushina hadn't met him when she said she would. He said he had gone to look for her and found her scroll with some of her favorite things sealed inside on the training ground." I held up the scroll with the Uzumaki library in it. Kushina had mentioned once that the seal on the scroll would only open for her, so I had no problem arrogantly waving it around. "Sorry I forgot to give this back earlier." I leaned around Jiraiya and handed her the scroll before continuing. "Minato and I quickly concluded that she had been abducted. By that time, her position had been unknown for nearly an hour. I wrote the note and left it on my door while we went to see if we could find a trail, which we did."

"Why didn't you raise an alarm?" The Hokage asked sharply.

"With all due respect, Saru—"

Sakumo's hand tightened in warning.

"Sandaime-sama," I amended, pointedly looking in Sakumo's general direction before turning my attention back towards the Hokage. "At the time this occurred, I had been a Genin for less than a day, and my team leader had not had the chance to tell me how to raise said alarm, considering the first day on a new team is traditionally spent on introductions, ability assessment, and getting an idea of which team formation would be most effective. Pre-Genin are not taught how to raise the alarm for a security breach for a reason."

"Why didn't you report the situation to the nearest shinobi?"

"There were no shinobi present. Our apartment is on the edge of the village, far removed from the shinobi paths."

"Very well, continue."

"Minato and I found the trail of hair Kushina had left behind at her and Minato's team training ground."

"Standard procedure dictates immediately reporting MIA teammates to the nearest superior officer. Why didn't the two of you report when you confirmed your teammate to be MIA?" Danzō interrupted, addressing Minato with a small amount of killing intent. The kid stumbled backwards under the unexpected pressure, though part of it might have been exhaustion.

I jerked out of Sakumo's grip and stepped between Minato and Danzō, my arms and legs spread in a defensive position. "First, as a certified medic, I am automatically a ranked shinobi and I am Minato's superior officer. He did everything by the book, so you can't rip into him for anything. Second, it had been less than an hour since Kushina was last seen, officially, she couldn't be considered MIA for another five hours. Third, while inside the village, the standard procedure for individuals unaccounted for is that the closest superior officer is to attempt to locate the individual. There is no procedure for when that attempt takes said officer out of the village. Finally, according to all relevant statistics, she was supposed to be already dead, and her body was about to be put up as a message to the village. Orphaned Genin aren't kidnapped for ransom, information, or as leverage and if there was something special about her, procedure dictates that I, as her immediate family and potential leverage against her, should have known the instant it became relevant or when I started training to be a shinobi. You have absolutely no ground to be issuing threats or accusing me or Minato of breaking protocol, councilman."

"Control your Genin!" Danzō barked at Sakumo.

"Control your advisor!" I barked at the Hokage, but my eyes never left Danzō and I made sure to only include him in the angle of my body.

It was a testament to the fact that I was right that Sakumo didn't move on Danzō's order. He signed at me behind his back, telling me to be respectful.

Genin: normal? The Hokage asked Sakumo in the standard sign language. I nearly missed the message it was so fast and practiced.

Normal. Sakumo confirmed. Good to know no one messed with my mind, but I could have told them that. I was very proud of myself for not even raising my voice. "Stand down, Uzumaki," Sakumo ordered. I straightened and stepped back into my position beside him.

"May I finish my report, Sandaime-sama?" Ha, I could speak politically if I wanted to.

The Hokage gestured permission.

"After discovering the trail of hair, I began to add to it with my own as we followed it to the village wall. It was there that I deliberately set off every security measure I came across, which totaled to thirteen different seals meant to prevent any unauthorized individual from entering or exiting. They didn't do a damn thing."

"How did you know the purpose of the seals?" the Uzumaki woman asked suddenly.

"I lived in Uzushiogakure for over seven years where nearly every surface has a seal of some sort on it. It's a simple thing to identify the exact same seals that covered every entrance and exit of the orphanage I grew up in, Uzumaki-san, especially when the same hand made them. Your hand."

The room tensed. She hummed, satisfied. "You're your parents' son." She exchanged a meaningful glance with the Hokage. "Continue with your report." I dismissed the comment and continued.

"When the seals did nothing, Minato and I continued to follow the trail as fast as we could. Eventually, we came upon the team with Kushina. The rest went exactly as Jiraiya-san described."

"Minato-kun, do you have anything to add?" The Hokage asked kindly.

"I-I do not, Sandaime-sama."

"Kushina-chan, please give your report."

Kushina stammered through retelling how she had gone back to the training ground to get her favorite kunai she had forgotten after her team meeting and when she had gotten there, she saw something strange in the trees. Once she recognized the Kumo hitai-ate, the had tried to run towards the village, but she tripped and accidentally dropped the scroll in the pile of leaves she landed in. Once she realized the ninja were abducting her and not trying to kill her, she started pulling out her hair to make a trail. For a while they carried her as they ran, but once they were far enough away from the village without any sign of pursuit, they arrogantly decided to slow down. She finished with the fact that they used signs to communicate and never spoke until I appeared in the path.

"Thank you, Kushina-chan, Minato-kun. You are dismissed. Go home and get some rest."

I started to follow them.

"Kichiro-kun, please stay. Jiraiya, would you escort them home, please?"

Jiraiya nodded and escorted his team out the door.

"Kichiro-kun, as the only present medic, were there any injuries?"

"Kushina had a few ribs with greenstick fractures, which I fully healed on-site, as well as a few scrapes and bruises, all of which will heal in a few days. Everything aligned with her report. The cracked ribs likely happened while she was being carried and the scrapes and bruises are consistent with several falls, though some were from earlier in the day. Minato and myself are uninjured, but I was not able to confirm Jiraiya-san's health."

"Shimura-san, Mitokado-san, Utatane-san, you are dismissed." The council nodded and left. "Hatake-san, please wait outside."

I shifted uncomfortably as Sakumo left.

"Sit down, Kichiro-kun," Mito invited, gesturing towards the chair. Warily, I sat on the edge of the seat.

"Are you aware of why your sister was targeted?" The Hokage asked.

"Officially, no, I am not."

"Unofficially?"

"Unofficially, I can make an educated guess on the matter based on information that has been given to me."

When I didn't elaborate, the Hokage prompted, "What is that guess?"

"The Uzumaki clan members generally have an abnormally long lifespan, exceptional vitality, and chakra reserves comparable to the Senju and Uchiha clans, which gives them a significant advantage on the battlefield. Whomever controls the remnants of the clan hold the potential to build a second Uzumaki clan, bred specifically for frontline combat, which they are naturally suited for, rather than as the seal masters they had become. The orphanage where the other surviving Uzumaki children live is guarded by Chuunin. I am almost always in the company of at least one Jōnin between my work at the hospital and training with Hatake-san. Kushina spends the majority of her time with her Academy classmate. She was the ideal target."

"You are much more intelligent than your age suggests."

"Yes, Sandaime-sama, but you have not asked me to remain behind in order to hear a Genin's theorizing. You want to tell me something. What is it?"

"I believe your exact words were 'if there was something special about her, procedure dictates that I, as her immediate family and potential leverage against her, should have known the instant it became relevant or when I started training to be a shinobi,' correct?"

"Correct."

"Then I believe I owe you an explanation."

I bit back the smart-ass response on the tip of my tongue.

"The Uzumaki clan has all the attributes you described, but there is one that is not as well-known. Uzumaki chakra is especially suited for controlling the tailed beasts." At this, Mito's chakra flared. I wasn't an exceptional sensor, but I was good enough to confirm a second chakra signature beneath Mito's when I concentrated.

The Hokage studied my response.

"You are not surprised by this."

"I already knew," I responded cheekily, but with a completely serious expression.

"Why haven't you mentioned before?"

"You never asked. You did ask if I knew why my sister was targeted. I have no way of knowing the intentions of another country and I have no reason to suspect that Kumo has a tailed beast they need to be contained, thus it wasn't relevant to your question."

"Am I correct in assuming you are not being completely straight with me?" He suggested, an edge in his voice.

"With all due respect, Sandaime-sama, I have not lied to you or deliberately withheld pertinent, important information," I answered in a perfectly conversational tone. "You were the one who lied to me when you assured me that my sister and I would be perfectly safe and free within the walls of Konoha, and you withheld the fact that the other villages are actively seeking my sister and I for traits we have no control over. For the record, my sister was just abducted, there is an active threat to the safety of both my sister and myself. I was promised freedom, yet less than a week after I arrived you gave orders for me to attend the Academy and attempted to manipulate me into becoming nothing more than a common soldier. When I protested this, you authorized me to be brutalized and manipulated until I complied. I am barely nine years old and I can slaughter a dozen civilians, a dozen different ways, in under a minute without shedding a drop of blood, and I didn't want to learn any of it. Please remind me why I should be expected to share every detail I know, when it all is compiled from sources accessible by the public." Well, not accessible to this public. I was very, very proud that I managed to keep a light, friendly tone through the entire rant.

It took the Professor several minutes to dissect the implications of everything I said. I was so glad I practiced that rant in my head on the way back. Mito sat and watched the proceedings, smirking slightly.

"You told your sister about the capabilities of Uzumaki chakra, the tailed beasts, and my status as a Jinchuuriki," Mito stated.

"Correct."

"That is why she kept her teacher between me and her."

"No, it is not. Her reasons are her own and I don't care to share them with a stranger."

"But you are not afraid."

"I am not, Uzumaki-san."

"Are you aware that either—"

"Mito-san!" The Hokage interrupted sharply.

"I am aware that I will become the next Kyuubi Jinchuuriki." I finished her sentence.

Two sharp sets of eyes assaulted me with suspicion.

"Konoha's already ruined my life," I glared back at the Hokage, struggling to keep my voice even as I stood up. "But if this village ruins the life of an idealistic eight-year-old girl, who can't even understand the way of the world she lives in, your petty victory will be decisively overturned."

I let my words sink in. Mito looked away from me and focused on the Hokage with a smirk on her face. I had already won. I could feel it.

"I don't trust you," the Sandaime said bluntly.

"I don't trust you either," I responded. "See? Honestly and forwardness isn't near as difficult as you thought it to be. I am very aware of what I just threatened, Sandaime-sama, but I wholeheartedly meant every word I said." I knew I was going to get in a ridiculous amount of trouble from Sakumo once he found out that I mocked the Hokage, but the expression on the Sandaime's face was completely worth every second.

A long silence punctuated my declaration. Mito and the Hokage were almost immediately locked in a battle of wills. Mito finally broke it.

"You heard his oath as well as I did. As long as you remain honest with and loyal to him, he will return the favor." Mito stated, unwavering. "The boy hates murder, but he loves justice. He may not be able to see the kind of shinobi you can be, but he knows exactly what kind of person you are. I will add your requested seal, but if the boy is lied to or betrayed, it will break. For as long as your will is stronger than his, you will have control. Do not abuse your authority. That is your one and only warning," Mito finished.

I had beaten them both. I knew it, the Hokage knew it, Mito knew it, but I still lost. I had gotten what I wanted, sure, but I couldn't win. Mito stood up and reached towards me. I jerked away from her, terrified and disgusted, but two ANBU appeared on either side of me and held me tightly by the arms. I looked at the Hokage one last time, but he couldn't meet my eye. I didn't struggle, it was no use and would only destroy the little dignity I had left, but I couldn't find the strength to lift my head as the ANBU forced me to walk.

"Kichiro?" Sakumo asked cautiously. I didn't respond. I couldn't even flinch as the door banged open like the sound of a gunshot. "What the hell happened to that kid?" Sakumo roared before the door slammed shut. I couldn't bring myself to appreciate that Sakumo cared.

The ANBU followed Mito down hundreds of stairs, so deep that my ears popped several times on the way. At the very bottom of the staircase, Mito continued while the ANBU turned into a small room and led me to sit on the low bed. They took my kunai pouch and sticks first, which was basically the entirety of my shinobi supplies, and placed them on a table at the foot of the bed. Next, they took off my shoes and shirt.

"You don't deserve this, kid," one of the ANBU said while he unclasped the necklace with my key from around my neck.

"But it doesn't change a damn thing, does it?" I murmured back as he pulled the knot of my hitai-ate loose and laid it atop the key. I was dressed in nothing by my shinobi trousers as they led me out of the room and down the hall. Mito opened a heavy stone door. Inside, the walls, ceiling, and floor was covered with sealing lines. In the center was a stone table. They laid me on it, face up, and locked my wrists and ankles in place.

"Stay strong, kid," the ANBU said before they both left, the door swinging closed like thunder, leaving only me and Mito in the room. I closed my eyes.

"Are you ready?" She asked.

"You're the one who will be signing away your life. I don't see why my answer to your question would make any difference."

I heard an ink bottle opening before Mito's hand wrapped around my left wrist and peeled open my fist. Soft enough that I barely felt it, she drew a seal on the palm of my left hand, then my right, followed by one on my forehead, the soles of both my feet, and then my sternum. One-by-one, she laid her palm over the first five seals and sent a tiny, measured burst of chakra into each of them. She laid her hand over my sternum.

"I know what I think doesn't matter at all to you, but I am sorry." Her chakra rushed through her hands and into the seal, which automatically connected to the other five she drew. I clenched my jaw tightly to avoid screaming as the seals burned themselves into my skin. "That was the first seal. It allows the Hokage to force you to carry out nearly any order he gives you. As long as he is honest with you and does not knowingly and deliberately act for your detriment, the seal will remain. If you attempt to directly disobey orders or carry out any kind of sabotage on them, the seal will stop you. I know you're a rebellious kid. You like pushing the limits. As long as you don't cross any lines, you can say or do whatever you like. The Hokage is now the master of you as a shinobi, not you as a person."

I turned away from her. I didn't care. Without another word, she began to draw the seal for the Kyuubi on my stomach. A few minutes later, she finished. She laid her hands on the seal and activated it. The actual transfer of the Kyuubi was both burned into my memory and burned out of it. I remembered the feel of the Kyuubi's incredibly dense and pervasive chakra filling the room, but nothing else until the transfer was complete and the door popped open with the sound of a Pillsbury® can being twisted open. Through my barely-open eyelids, I watched as the Hokage entered first, wary. He pressed two fingers against my neck and I jerked away from his touch, my throat raw and painful.

"The boy's alive, the sealing was successful. What about Mito-san?"

"She's dead," an ANBU responded emotionlessly.

"Take care of the boy, get him whatever he needs. I need him ready to go back on the field as soon as possible, the seal should completely isolate his chakra from the beast's until he's strong enough to completely control it, so his abilities should be unaltered."

I couldn't help but whimper softly as the ANBU unfastened the restraints and peeled my wrists and ankles out of them, tearing of scabs in the process. He lifted me up like a child. A minute later, he laid me back on a bed, facing the wall.

"He just needs time and rest," one of the ANBU said to another.

No, time and rest wouldn't fix anything. I just wanted it all to go away, at least for a little while. A needle slid into my arm and that's exactly what happened.

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