7 Birthday Blues

The next year seemed to pass in a blur. I spent my days on a simple but complicated project, reading and making rings. I made around 150 rings for people in the village and collected nearly every bit of sealing knowledge that Uzushiogakure had to offer.

Of course, that doesn't mean I'm a sealing god; I've barely been doing this for two years. I've read the scrolls that apply to my project with the help of Kushina and Ashita. Our nightly practice has received another part where we study a scroll first, and then we get to practice.

My control over Nature Energy was still increasing steadily. I could maintain a construct comfortably for 17 seconds and 20 if I pushed myself to unconsciousness. I tested controlling multiple constructs at the same time earlier in the year and found it exponentially harder to control with each one added.

I tested my idea of senbon constructs and successfully petrified a frog. I haven't tried it on a human because I'm not a psycho. Eventually, I will have to kill someone, but it won't be an innocent; I'm not Orochimaru, who uses randos to experiment on. 

I've consulted a few people who have come to me for rings, and my pet project was possible but difficult.

I was trying to create a matrix which would absorb Nature Energy. My idea was to create a self-replenishing battery to power a sealing matrix. There are obvious requirements for formations to work; the simplest is a power source. 

Most of the time, it would be a ninja, but their chakra is limited. To increase the amount of chakra available, they need manpower or strong soldiers. Both are needed in a war, but if my battery works, formations that are much more powerful could be used.

It took me 7 months to rework a seal just to interact with Nature Energy. For the longest time, I thought it was futile, but I kept at it and eventually found a way. Around this time, I commissioned a gift for Kushina at the blacksmith.

The remainder of my time was spent trying to integrate the seals which affected Nature Energy into a chakra-gathering array. This unfortunately was a lot more complicated than some simple cut, copy and paste work. Nearly the entire thing needed to be overhauled.

It took four months to do that, even with the help of a few seal masters who answered questions Ashita couldn't. It was during this time that I allowed myself to begin talking like an adult. Talking like a kind while working on complex problems was too much of a pain.

I have also become fully competent in both Hiragana and Katagana which allowed me to read on my own. By the time Kushina's birthday rolled around, I had a basic safety measure in place to prevent any incidents in case the storage was compromised.

I was planning to make a trip to Suto's office at some point, but I didn't have any specific time set.

The day before Kushina's birthday, we were all having breakfast when someone knocked at our door. Mom got up to answer it while we were eating. When she came back, she told us to finish quickly because the Kage was calling us, all three of us.

We finished our meal and did the dishes before leaving our house. It wasn't the first time I had been to Suto's office, but it was for Kushina, so when the guard pranked us with his chains again I was ready.

Kushina, much to both of our amusement, squealed very loudly. She glared at the man and then at me, I tried to proclaim my innocence in the matter however, hell hath no fury; no matter if she is 8 or 80.

I had to walk the rest of the way to his office in front of her so she could vent her frustrations on the backs of my shoes. Some people are just so petty…

We were stopped at his office door like last time, where the guard knocked before we were given permission to enter.

Other than the fact that the stacks of paper on his desk changed heights and positions, the room looked the same. I walked ahead of my family and sat on the bench. 

"Good morning, Suto-san."

The good-natured Uzumaki chuckled at my casual behaviour. "Good morning to you too, Kane-chan," looking past me, he continued, "Ashita, Kushina-chan, good morning to you as well.  Please take a seat."

"I apologize for my son's behaviour, Suto-sama. Good morning to you as well." Kushina spoke from behind me, "Good morning Suto-sama."

Ashita sat next to me while Kushina sat on my other side. I thought we would get right to the reason we were called here, but Mom had other thoughts on the matter.

I received a quick smack on the back of my head from her hand. 

Suto laughed at our behaviour. "Don't worry about it, Ashita; kids are meant to be carefree at that age. And you, Kushina, you are growing up to be just as beautiful as your mother."

Kushina bowed her head slightly. "Thank you for the kind words Suto-sama."

The Kage cleared his piles of paperwork off to the sides before clapping his hands. "I'm sure we both have things to do today, so I will make this quick. At the end of the year, Kushina will be going on a mission to Konohagakure. Mito Uzumaki is growing older, and she requested that her great-granddaughter join her there."

Kushina froze stiff like a board. I could guess the reason; she probably didn't expect that she still had any true family left alive besides me.

Seeing as her foster daughter was frozen, Ashita asked the follow-up questions. "How long will she be going for? And who will be accompanying her?"

"She will be sent with an escort to the borders of the Land of Fire. From there Konohagakure shinobi will take over. She will be there for an indefinite amount of time, and no others have been asked to join her."

Suto had just finished speaking when Kushina stood up and bolted out of the door. Ashita sighed before asking me to go after her. 

I stood up and asked Suto if I could see him later. He gave me a positive response so I took off running after Kushina.