Matsu - The MC of the story.
Rei:- one of Matsu’s first friends from the academy. Matsu faked her death when ordered to kill her in front of everyone, then snuck a byakugan into her after she lost one of her eyes. Lives in the Land of Vegetables and has been devouring everything regarding fuinjutsu that she could get her hands on.
Fumikage Hozuki:- the Jinchuriki of the three tails. A Kiri shinobi.
Yumi - Geisha of the Land of Vegetables, Matsu helped her marry the Seneschal of the Land of Vegetables Lord Chen.
Lord Chen:- Senechal of the Land of Vegetables
Lord Fuza:- Daimyo of the Land of Vegetables, married to Mara Uzumaki.
Hiroshi Uzumaki - Old shinobi of Uzushio, father to Mara, grandfather to Momotaro. Blacksmith. Hideo’s target during an earlier mission.
Momotaro Uzumaki - son of Mara Uzumaki, now a samurai captain in the Land of Vegetables.
Mara Uzumaki - sickly daughter of Hiroshi. Former Kunoichi of Uzushio. Married to the Daimyo of the Land of Vegetables.
Himeko Kaguya:- Tokubetsu Jonin of Kirigakure with her skills as a taijutsu specialist bolstered by her bloodline.
Sharkbait:- real name Kenta Nogawa. Also now a Tk Jonin of Kiri
Isobu:- The three-tailed Bijuu, currently hosted by Fumikage Hozuki
_____________
“You…how do you know that name, human?” rumbled the three-tailed demon, its gaze locked on me as its oppressive chakra withdrew.
Time to sling some absolute bullshit while not lying, just in case someone like Kurama ever asked me the same question to check if I was full of shit.
“I’ve read ancient texts,” I replied, feeling an ache in my heart at referring to Naruto manga as ancient texts.
“There exist ancient texts?” asked Isobu, its eye widening with surprise.
“Indeed, they are just very difficult to read,” I replied honestly, thinking about how they were all in a different universe.
“Ah, human documents do degrade over time,” remarked Isobu thoughtfully. “What did the texts say?” Suddenly, the demon’s focus was back on me with an intensity that was alarming.
“It had a list of names and spoke of a creator for all of you. Shukaku, Matatabi, Isobu, Son Goku, Kokuo, Saiken, Chomei, Gyuki, and Kurama.”
“And… of father? What did it speak of?” Isobu asked, leaning forward into the seals that burned and hissed at his touch. I suspected that in another instance he might have flinched, but here and now, he was too focused on me to care for something as minor as pain.
“Hagoromo,” I murmured.
Isobu flinched back, either from finally registering the pain or being struck by the name of his father.
“You do know of him,” he murmured. “It has been a long time since any have so much as muttered his name.”
“They speak of him more as the Sage of the Six Paths these days,” I offered.
“Do they?” he asked. “How… underwhelming. He was so much more than that,” remarked Isobu.
“What is this?” whispered Fumikage. “Is this some sick joke? Are you talking with it? Really?”
I turned slightly so I could keep Isobu in my line of sight while also giving Fumikage my attention. “The world is a bigger place than most know. As much as you have suffered from being his… host, shall we say, I would wager that Isobu here has also suffered from the—” I gestured at the spears sticking here there and everywhere around him. "—accommodation," I ended lamely.
“Hmph! If I so much as twitch the wrong way, I'll be stabbed!” growled Isobu. “This has been the way since that blasted Hashirama sought us out!”
“Sometimes a man with good intentions can cause a world of harm if he remains unchecked,” I offered back to Isobu.
“But it’s a demon! They deserve this! Their kind would happily devour us whole given the slightest chance!” He stabbed a finger at me. “You haven’t heard it whisper to me when I try to sleep or I’m tired! It says things!”
I observed Fumikage for a long moment, but I didn’t fail to notice Isobu shifting slightly, like it suddenly regretted how it acts only to tense up and narrow its gaze.
Before either could speak, I decided to offer my own take on the situation.
“Are we being fair if we judge others when they are at their lowest point? Are they not under duress and hurting? What can we expect from them but to lash out?”
I knelt and offered my hand to Fumikage with as soft a smile as I could manage.
“It’s not easy to forgive another that you see as the reason for your pain, Fumikage, but neither of you asked for this.”
Fumikage’s eyes dipped. “I did… when I was a kid… they came around asking…”
“And you thought you were doing the right thing back then, didn’t you?” I offered kindly. “But you know better now.”
His eyes flickered up to me before looking down.
“Hey, come on, I’ve only known you for a few weeks now but I can tell you want to be better, this is your chance, alright? So… give me a chance right now?” I asked.
He nodded slightly then reached out and took my hand. I pulled him effortlessly up to his feet and beamed at him. “There, now let’s—”
Isobu barked a laugh. “Human sentiment – how touching. It does nothing to show that you—”
I let go of Fumikage’s hand and walked right up to the seals that formed the cage. It was insultingly easy to step through them and directly in front of Isobu.
It was a good thing I hadn’t stopped to think this through.
Otherwise, I definitely would have. Especially upon noticing that Isobu, for all that he was only the three-tails demon, was easily of a size with one of the largest summons I had the capacity to summon.
“Hello Isobu, My name is Matsu Uzumaki, I’m going to be the Mizukage and make the world a better place!” I proclaimed, making sure not to shout but at the same time putting forth my intent.
I opened my hand to him. “Please, help me achieve that; I’m only one human after all!"
Isobu stared at me.
“What is this? Are you trying to trick me, or are you an idiot?”
“Yes to all of it. Still, I’m willing to put myself on the line! My dreams! My hopes for a better world! I need your help, though, and that of others! Trust in me! Please!!” I said, my mouth moving before I could really think about it.
It was working so far for me, so I decided to stick with the off-the-cuff responses.
Isobu stared at me and then turned slightly.
I didn’t take my gaze away from the giant demon, cause that seemed like a terrible idea to me, so I was shocked when Fumikage spoke up from next to me.
“I’ve only known Matsu for a few weeks! But he’s kind! He wants things to be better, and he’s trying his best! So…” Fumikage’s hand rose up next to mine. “Please…?” he asked.
Isobu stared at us, and I had to admit, this turn of events had taken me by surprise as well. I’d thought Fumikage too scared of the Demon to do something like this.
Then I noticed that his hand was shaking badly.
Oh…
You really were braver than anyone gave you credit for Fumikage.
Isobu too noticed this as something about its posture shifted, not defeated, but accepting of the situation.
“Mad, both of you. I should crush you both… but I find myself curious,” said Isobu as one hand came around and the very tips of two fingers were put into mine and Fumikage’s hands before being bounced down once.
“Don’t disappoint me,” growled the demon.
“I’ll try not to!” I grinned back, still touching the demon and marvelling at this odd turn of events.
I grinned. “Ha! Thanks! Now, let’s start changing the world by helping both of you out!” I declared with a smile.
Fumikage and Isobu both tilted their heads but I shut my eyes and focussed on myself.
There was a small moment of vertigo, like I had popped a clone as I registered my actual body standing outside the seal next to Rei while also having a projection within the seal.
“—tsu! Matsu! What the fuck are you doing?” Rei shouted frantically.
“Come on, speak to me!” She darted back and forth, consulting several unrolled scrolls on the bench near Fumikage’s body.
“Oh Kami I’ve done it! I’d bitten off so much more than I could chew like Hiroshi warned, and I’m going to kill us all!”
“Take a breath, Rei,” I murmured, eyes drifting up to her as she whirled around. I kept my hand on the seal, and my chakra flow continued to keep up the connection with the two in the seal.
Oddly enough, while I did this, I noticed that I’d spoken with both my real body and the projection within the seal.
Rei whirled about on me. “Oh Matsu, thank fuck! What were you thinking?”
I smiled at her winningly. “I’m going to ask you to trust me.”
“Nothing good comes from that phrase!” replied Rei instantly.
“I need you to loosen the seal and restructure it if possible. Make it so the chakra flows in a controlled manner still, as Fumikage won’t be able to handle too much all at once, but—”
“Matsu!” squawked Rei. “That will allow the demon more influence! I might have inflated how good I was at these seals but even I know that’s a terrible idea!”
“Not if the demon in question works with us,” I remarked.
Rei stared at me. “Matsu… what did I say about whipping out some bullshit ability? What the fuck did you do? Smile at it? Bat your eyelashes?”
“That and I had a talk with it,” I replied easily. “In fact, I’m still talking with it. It’s going well. Its name is Isobu, and I think he wants a nicer house than what he has currently.”
“Anything would be better than this stack of blades," rumbled Isobu from within the seal.
“Hmm, actually, did you want to see the inner workings of the seal?” I asked.
Rei twitched. “I can do that?” she gasped, her earlier trepidation gone as she leaned in. “How?”
“Right, so gather your chakra and form an intent to talk while making contact with—”
Rei’s hand joined mine before I could finish coaching her.
A moment later, Rei was next to me inside the seal.
“Holy hells, that worked?!” she screamed, causing Fumikage and Isobu to flinch.
Rei instantly registered them and stared. “That’s a fucking huge turtle!” she shouted. “Fumikage! You had this inside you! That’s amazing!” she called, sprinting up to the seals only to scowl. At what she saw. “Who, this is even more garbage than I thought!”
She pointed at the shaft of one spear with the seal script on it. “Matsu, look at this syntax right here! He traipses through the shadows and obstructs demonic influence.” Then she remembered the giant demon on the other side.
“How do you do, Mr Demon Turtle?” She then leaned slightly to the side and looked down Isobu’s length. “Or is it Miss Demon Turtle?”
“You—” Isobu’s head tilted slightly, “—are a very strange human. And I am fine with Mr Demon Turtle, although I suppose with these two around, you may also call me Isobu.”
“Isobu? That’s such a nice name!” Rei giggled nervously. “I’m going to focus on fixing up this seal if that’s alright? It’s kind of unique to be inside a seal and see it taking hold. Hmmm, I wonder if I can do this with other seals or just demonic ones. I suspect it’s something to do with the interaction of holding a being made of chakra, perhaps—” she began talking out loud as she inspected the various seals carefully.
Isobu, Fumikage and I watched her go to work.
“Sooooo, what do you do to pass the time in here?” I asked, making small talk.
“... I spent my time devising methods of making my jailer experience a fraction of the pain I have felt for the period of time I have been stuck within this seal.”
I turned away. "Yeeeeeah, that makes a lot of sense.”
For a moment, there is an awkward silence, only broken by the sound of Rei scurrying over to another spear to inspect it.
“What did you come up with?” Fumikage asked, causing me to glance at him.
Isobu smiled. “I was going to throw you into the sky and wait for you to come down before swatting you across the ocean. Or I might have devoured you and let my chakra and inner demons eat you slowly.”
“Inner demons?” asked Fumikage nervously.
“Yes, small manifestations of my form are within me. I use them to torment those that I’ve eaten by taking small bites out of them, or I swarm them and leave them without limbs. I have had the pleasure of doing that to seven humans in the past!” Isobu announced proudly.
“Oh, what does human taste like?” Fumikage asked.
I sighed, deciding to follow the hyperactive former kunoichi around rather than listen too closely to this rather morbid discussion.
Both of them needed hobbies, I thought to myself.
__________________
It ended up taking Rei half a day of studying the seal, from inside and outside the seal before she announced that she was confident in changing the seal.
I sat back, just knowing that Gengetsu and the others who eventually studied it were going to have conniptions. When I returned to Kiri I was going to have to bluff pretty hard. Perhaps I could just smile knowingly and scare Gengetsu a little?
There was no way Fumikage wasn’t getting extensively examined, so we were going to have to roll with that.
Still, everyone was happy, or at least happier with the result of our talk with Isobu still in the seal but no longer restrained anywhere near as heavily.
There was now a sizable amount of space for him to stretch his limbs, turn and move about. It was more like a zoo enclosure now instead of his previous stack of spears that held him down.
I could only imagine that if Kurama ever learnt of this, he’d be green with envy.
Before we’d exited the seal I’d had one more request of Isobu. “Isobu, might I have some of your chakra?” I asked.
Isobu turned from where he’d been paddling along the back of his enclosure to eye me. “You wish for some of my chakra? Whatever for?”
“I wish to study it. I’m trying to grow my own understanding and become stronger.”
“Any other, and I would deny them,” remarked Isobu only to nod. “Prepare a vessel and I shall extend my chakra freely to you.”
When we exited the seal for the last time I grinned. That had gone so much more successfully than I’d ever planned. My allies were stronger from this, and I now had something new to study that might offer me either a potent power boost in a clutch moment, or it would serve as a useful tool to expand my understanding of chakra.
Both wins in my book.
“I no longer feel pain flowing through my coils,” remarked Fumikage as he traced his shoulder down to his heart.
“I should imagine so!” Rei declared. “I fixed up a lot of the valves and features that had been built into the old seal! The hack that had been fixing it barely understood what he was doing! Their—” she continued to rant, and while I tried to parse her meaning, eventually I could only sigh in defeat and glance towards Fumikage, who was nodding along dutifully with a small smile.
Hmm, yeah, Shoto had some serious competition on his hands.
“Thank goodness you were there to help out Rei,” Fumikage praised, and I held off on rolling my eyes.
“Heh, you say that, but I think Matsu was key. Seriously? Ninshu? Where the hell did you hear about that?” she remarked.
“Around,” I replied vaguely.
Fumikage leaned towards Rei. “Ancient texts.”
“That explains everything and nothing,” replied Rei, only to shake her head. “Well, I’m beat, so someone carry me! I’m not running home tonight!”
Fumikage practically threw himself forward to carry her, and I happily let him, instead holding onto the small scroll that Rei had whipped up to store Isobu’s chakra.
For the run home, I was mostly working on autopilot with almost all of my attention focused on drawing out and feeling at the chakra within the scroll.
It stung my senses somewhat, but for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why that was beyond it being a core trait of demonic chakra. Something to look forward to working out in future, as I knew there was more to demonic chakra than meets the eye.
Our late return to the compound caused a bit of a stir, with Momotaro making sure to thoroughly check that Rei was alright while only giving Fumikage and me a cursory look.
Hiroshi had also stayed up, waiting for us to appear. He gave Rei a pointed look, and she wilted, causing him to sigh.
“We’re going to run some tight script calligraphy drills,” he announced, his eyes sweeping across all of us. “You will all attend them.”
Fumikage shifted, glancing to me, and I nodded. “Best we keep the peace, and we can talk to Rei about what happened.”
That made him perk right up while Momotaro scowled. “In that case, I shall also attend these—”
“No, you’ll man the gate!” growled Hiroshi as he rose and stiffly marched into the house, muttering under his breath about foolish young ones and puppy love and being far too old for any of this.
I chuckled and waved everyone goodnight. We’d had an eventful day, and there was still more to come.
_____________________
When our allies arrived, they didn’t come in via the gate. Momotaro and the samurai all twitched at the pair of shadows that leapt over the walls and streaked towards my position on the edge of the building, where I appeared to be lounging.
Himeko and Sharkbait slid to a stop in front of me with Himeko practically looming over me. She’d grown into a tall woman with long hair that she normally tied up with buns on the side of her head. From experience, I knew those buns contained small splinters of bone that made it a very poor choice to grasp for any would be grapplers.
She also had numerous piercings of bone through her ears and from her neck small studs of bone that jutted out, offering some defence to a vital point while deterring any from grabbing her by the neck.
“Sup Matsu,” she said with a savage grin. “Heard you’re having trouble with some leaf punks?” her lips peeled back to reveal several sharpened teeth that made her smile look dangerous.
I thought it looked good on her.
“Yeah, they’ve been evading my efforts to bring them to a fight for a while now.” I tossed my thumb over my shoulder to where Fumikage was sitting with Rei who had adopted a professional poise with a hand fan to make her look demure.
Himeko gave Rei a thoroughly unimpressed look only to turn her gaze back to me, leaning in and narrowing her eyes. “Why is it that every time we come to Vegetables, you’re dealing with whores?”
Rather than becoming offended, Rei snorted in amusement.
Sharkbait, who’d been hanging back, tilted his head and gave Rei a long look. “Excuse me miss. I imagine you get this a lot, but have we met before?”
Sharkbait stepped up and hummed. “You look really familiar, but for the life of me, I don’t think I’ve ever met you before.”
Rei began to snicker, and I sighed.
We’d discussed this prior to my reinforcements' arrival, and Rei had been adamant that she wasn’t going to shirk away from them if they were part of our old friend group.
I’d spent the last few days meditating on Isobu’s chakra while also keeping an eye out for any new chakra signatures. When I’d confirmed that it was only these two showing up, she’d set the stage, so to speak, for this little encounter.
Rei lowered her fan and smiled widely. “I imagine you weren’t used to looking at my face, seeing as I was always faster than you, Sharkbait!” she teased with a grin.
Sharkbait blinked, and Himeko’s head shot up before glancing at me only to snort.
Sharkbait narrowed his eyes. “What are you—”
“Remember when I outran that shark along the shark cove while you had to be rescued?” she grinned at him. “I was always the fastest of our group!”
I could see the instant the penny dropped for Sharkbait as his mouth opened and hung there.
“No!” he gasped. His head snapped to me, while his hand came up to point at Rei.
“No! But I saw… Everyone saw you… He stabbed you! And then… but you’re here? But that means…”
Sharkbait put his hands to his head only to shake it. “Kai!” he called, spiking his chakra only to give Rei another look. “That didn’t do anything but..."
He rounded on me and grabbed the front of my shirt right as Momotaro and his entourage rounded the house with their blades drawn.
“Matsu! Matsu! Tell me this isn’t an illusion!”
Rei began to laugh loudly, which did a lot to diffuse the situation.
Sharkbait let me go and turned to her, hands trembling. “You’re really alive?” he rasped. “How?”
“Turns out Matsu has been pulling tricks and bullshit moves for a lot longer than people realised,” Rei replied, only to stand and open her arms wide. “Coming here you big lug!” she called.
Sharkbait stepped forward hesitantly, only to lick his lips and commit to the hug.
“You’re really alive?” he whispered.
“Yeah, I missed you Kenta,” Rei whispered back.
“Call me Sharkbait, everyone does, even Gengetsu when he gave me my vest,” he replied.
The samurai shifted uneasily, glancing to Momotaro to see how they should act only for him to sigh and wave them off.
He stared at Himeko only to straighten his spine. “I must say, I’ve been looking forward to our rematch Himeko!” he declared.
Himeko glanced at him, frowned and replied, “Do I know you?” She then jerked a thumb towards Rei. “Her I know cause she was a weakling that was useful during the academy." She nodded once, then glanced back at Momotaro.
“So, who are you again?”
Momotaro gaped in shock, and I decided to let my emotions out instead of holding them in. I threw my head back and began to laugh.
It felt good to just let it out instead of shrinking it for the sake of being polite, or keeping my amusement off my face. Part of me relaxed a little further in a way I couldn’t quite put my finger on.
When I was done laughing, I noticed that Sharkbait, Rei, and Himeko were looking at me oddly.
“What?” I asked, feeling oddly defensive.
“You don’t usually laugh like that,” Sharkbait pointed out. “Usually, we get like a 'hehe' at most from you or a smirk, not an actual laugh-laugh like that! Heck we even talked about it once and the last time you laughed properly in front of us was…” he licked his lips. “Before graduation.”
That drew me up short, and I considered that. Had I become more reserved with everyone? I… hadn’t meant to, but with the various missions and secrets I’d been keeping close at hand…
“Ah, sorry if I worried you,” I offered.
Sharkbait just grinned. “Hah! Sayuki is going to flip her lid when she learns!”
I sighed. “It’s going to take a while, cause Rei is still vulnerable, plus it would anger a lot of people that I openly defied the Mizukage like I did back then as not even a graduate at the time.”
“Hmm, I’m guessing she’s still pretty weak then?” Himeko asked, causing Rei to slump as she nodded.
Sharkbait patted her on the shoulder. “It’s alright! I’m heaps stronger these days!” he declared as he patted his Jonin vest.
She stared at it for a moment. "Tokubetsu, I’m guessing?”
This time it was Sharkbait’s turn to flinch as Rei correctly guessed his rank. “Ouch… give a guy some benefit of the doubt, you know?”
I snorted. “Regardless, we’re still operating as if Rei is gone to us, alright?” I suggested, earning a nod from everyone.
Himeko just shrugged. “Not my problem as long as you’re still down to spar before we go kick Konoha’s asses.”
“Of course,” I replied with a smirk. “We’ll have to wait a few more days for that so we can spar here.” Sharkbait shot me a curious look and I answered, “I am due to run some medicals on local noblewomen now that they have their husbands' permission.”
“Neat,” Himeko replied as she created a skull drinking cup with her bloodline limit that she poured water into before taking a sip.
Momotaro shuddered, and Himeko blinked. “Oh! It’s Momo!” she said, causing him to scowl.
“That’s how you remember me?” He unsheathed his blade and glowered at her. “I will make you taste my blade for this insolence!”
“Heh, nah, I prefer to do the stabbing,” she replied as she formed twin bone spikes from her hands.
Rei shook her head. “Phrasing,” she muttered even as she settled down to watch the ‘spar’ between old rivals.
I settled in, ready to match up the various wounds that were sure to come from this.
Himeko smirked and went for the kill, causing Momotaro to scowl. “You’ve become even more bloodthirsty!"
Himeko took a step back as he tried to counterattack, allowing the blade to miss, only for her to form a bone plate and a scratch to form on it along the line the blade had passed.
Hmmm, a wind blade, how appropriate for a swordsman.
“Ah, don’t worry about dying, with Matsu here, you won’t die, so don’t hold back on my behalf,” Himeko offered with a sharp smile.
Momotaro blinked at that. “What on earth are you—” he didn’t get a chance to complete his question as Himeko threw herself into the attack, sending bone spikes at him that, when they missed, caused the ground to sprout with sharp edges which only she seemed able to traverse.
Rei glanced at me. “What does she mean by that Matsu?”
I shrugged, happy to ignore the question, only for Sharkbait to perk up.
“Oh, it’s been amazing! While Matsu was conducting part of the chunin exams he had this great segment for the chunin hopefuls where they could practically go all out on each other instead of holding back! Only the trick was that—”
Rei’s expression turned white, only to turn slowly more and more green the more Sharkbait told her.
“That’s horrifying,” she murmured.
“It was effective, and no one died,” I remarked calmly. “I had to up my skills with the chance of poisons being used, but I got through it, and so did all the genin at that stage. More than a few approached it in unique enough ways to earn promotions,” I said.
I rose before anyone could question me further, and I had good reason to.
Before it even happened, I knew I was going to have to heal Momotaro as he overcommitted to a strike with a feint, only for Himeko to bull through his counterattack and stab him through the guts and thigh.
He flopped to the ground, stunned by the brutal end to the spar.
I appeared next to him, removing the bones and healing him up within seconds, leaving him to gape up at the sky.
“What the fuck was that?” he rasped.
“Himeko plays rough, and she has only gotten rougher knowing that I can put people back together again,” I offered, patting him on the shoulder kindly. “You held out well enough, and she did warn you. Next time you spar with her, don’t hold back.”
If anything, Himeko had actually warned him at the start of the match by going for the kill then pulling back to let him adjust. Sadly he hadn’t taken that as seriously as he should have.
He twitched at that, and for a second, I thought he was going to kick up onto his feet, but he instead lay there.
“Have you ever almost died?” he asked.
I didn’t reply to that; instead, I just looked at him flatly.
“Right, dumb question. You’re some sort of genius; of course you haven’t—”
“I once had to run from Orochimaru of the Sannin,” I replied easily. “I also was on the battlefield observing Sakumo Hatake as he cut down Suna shinobi in droves. He knew I was there, and if he’d moved to attack, I don’t think there would have been an escape for me that day.”
I considered mentioning my taking part in Mu and Gengetsu’s fight but knew he’d have had no reference for the scale that had been involved. I’d only just begun to feel like I could stand on the same stage as such shinobi.
I let the moment linger as I looked at the sky, only to then turn and give him the same flat look. “Also, I live in Kiri; almost dying has been a staple for much of my generation. We’re trying to fix that.”
He stared at me. “Huh, guess I need to train harder.”
I offered him another pat. “Next time you fight her, don’t do it in a place you can’t get destructive. Do it in a field or a forest that doesn’t matter to you. If you ever have to fight someone here properly, remember, as long as your loved ones walk out alright, don’t worry about the buildings or things in them.”
“Thanks,” he replied. “I’ll keep that in mind.” He rose and locked eyes with Himeko. “You’re stronger than I thought you’d be. But I’m going to catch up and surpass you,” he declared.
“Hmph, that’ll be the day!” she cut back.
He just nodded to us and walked off stiffly, leaving Himeko to watch him for a moment only to scoff and shake her head. "Well, that was a disappointment. Hey Matsu, do you want to try—”
I’d been expecting this, so I pulsed my chakra through my body once, accelerating with the shunshin even as I twisted about and stood.
It had taken a lot of clones slamming into objects to lock down the precise amount of chakra to use and distances travelled with the shunshin with certain conditions, but the results were worth it.
Appearing before her, I had my finger right on her temple an instant after she’d spoken.
Her eyes widened and her breath caught.
“Dead,” I stated calmly.
She blinked. “The fuck? Did you just shunshin on me?”
“Yeah, if you know how to use it properly, it becomes nothing more than a test of reflexes. I wouldn’t be able to use it against an Uchiha or a true elite." I tapped her twice on the forehead. “I suspect you’ll have a counter for this next time we spar as well, no?”
She nodded, and I smiled.
Turning away from her, I waved a hand towards the lounge. “Let's eat! We’re going to be busy in a few days, so come take a load off before we start running around the Land of Demons!” I called.
Rei caught my eye and gave me a pointed look.
She knew it wasn’t the shunshin that I was worried about; it was the Hiraishin.
Explaining my fear of the Second Hokage’s jutsu, however, was going to be a tough ask. Some of them might even give up before they knew they had a chance. By giving them something they could work towards, I hopefully improved their odds of survival.
Which was only one aspect of the possible foes they might be facing in the future.
I’d spent years at this point drilling them on anti-shadow clone tactics, sneak attacks, and even recognising genjutsu just in case they ran into someone like Kushina, Fugaku Uchiha, Minato, Orochimaru, or Jiraiya in the coming war.
I could only hope I’d done enough to tip the scales.
Hopefully, I’d tip them a bit more in the coming days by sweeping the bases in the eastern continent and reducing our enemies' ability to project a large force to attack from our rear.
Rei leaned over and bopped my shoulder. “You’re growing serious again,” she stated firmly.
I blinked at her. “I was smiling and listening, though?” I replied.
She smiled. “No, you were plotting. Just relax for the moment, alright?” she asked earnestly.
Nodding, I exhaled and allowed myself to do just that.
Tomorrow would come soon enough; today was about spending time with friends. New and old.
___________________________
My hand sat atop Yumi’s pregnant belly. “Hmmm this is looking good,” I remarked. "Your key milestones are being reached and the baby is forming up as they should.” I made a show of working down a list that I’d long since memorised.
Sometimes, small acts like physically ticking off a sheet had been shown to help anxious patients relax, and a pregnant woman typically sat within that spectrum.
Yumi fit the profile.
“See, isn’t that a relief, Yumi? You have nothing to worry about!” teased Mara, who was sitting to the side.
Yumi exhaled slowly. “Yes, yes, that’s true.”
Nodding along, I ignored the urge to chop the air in Mara’s direction. A woman her age having children was one thing, but having twins? Well that complicated matters again.
Mara and the now daimyo of the Land of Vegetables had obviously been busy.
The seneschal and the daimyo, both the husbands of the two women I was examining, sat to the side with their hands fisted over their knees.
I spared them another look. “I did tell you this wasn’t going to be like other doctors. I don’t need to physically examine their privates with my jutsu.”
“Hnn!” grunted Lord Fuza as his moustache twitched.
Lord Chen coughed politely. “What my lord means to say is that while he didn’t doubt your word it would be unseemly not to have the ladies chaperoned by trusted companions.” He shifted in his seat and nodded. “The whispers of court, you see, can be nefarious even for the daimyo.”
“That is completely reasonable,” I replied, like I had the other eight times it had been brought up.
“Hnnnnn,” grunted Lord Fuza once again.
Mara giggled. “Dear, I’m fine, and so are the babies.”
“Actually, you’re the one I’m concerned about the most,” I said, deciding to cut to the chase. “Mara, you’re over forty now and—”
“I never told you my age,” she cut in with narrowed eyes.
I sighed. “No, but there are certain signs that your body gives when I examine it. Frankly I’m amazed that you were able to fall pregnant.”
Raising a hand, I forestalled any more comments from her. “Now add in that you’re pregnant with twins. I’m not going to lie, the risk of something adverse happening to you this time around is quite high.”
I gave her a pointed look. “And then we take into consideration the state of your chakra network.”
“Oh,” she murmured as she caught on to just how many issues she had.
“Oh indeed,” I replied.
“What can we do, Master Medic Matsu?” Lord Fuza finally cut in. “Money is no object!”
I shot Mara a glare for introducing me by that title, only for her to titter into her hand.
Lord Chen made a small strangled cry like he wanted to say otherwise but knew he couldn’t. Not with his own wife sitting next to him and smiling beatifically. While his ruling lord sat on the other.
“Money isn’t the issue; it’s access to a suitable medic.”
“We will take a mission for you to come!” he declared. “I am ready to pay this out as an S-rank mission.”
"Oh, honey!” gushed Mara as she leapt towards her husband, who caught her effortlessly.
I sighed. “I will most likely not be available,” I said sadly.
“What?!” His head snapped up to me aggressively, and his eyes bore into mine. “Whyever not?”
It took me a moment to consider Lord Fuza and how he likely had no idea of, or care for, the coming shinobi war that was likely to break out.
His homeland would most likely be spared any shockwaves from the fights that would break out. There might be some shipping or trade routes interfered with, but otherwise it would be business as usual.
“As the head of Kirigakure’s medical programme, I must stay ready to answer the Land of Water Daimyo’s summons at an instant.”
“Currently, I have others seeing to his needs, but I cannot tarry for too long. I will, however, resolve this by finding a suitable replacement. Either with the head of obstetrics or even the deputy head of the programme if I have to.”
I would prefer it if it were Kuroiwa. I knew her well enough to know that she’d keep the secret of the Uzumaki within the Land of Vegetables to herself.
She might ask for a favour or two, but they would be manageable things that could be expected from a friend.
Lord Fuza shifted, obviously irritated at this state of affairs, and I just knew I was about to lose the rest of the day to handling his annoyance.
Right as Lord Fuza began a passionate speech about only wanting the best medics and doctors for his wife and future children, I felt a pair of unfamiliar chakra signatures cross into my range.
Hmmm? What’s this?
A moment later another two joined. Hmm, a four-man team of shinobi… that almost always indicated Konoha and there would be—
A final chakra signature joined the group, and rather than making me change my hypothesis on the team’s origin, it solidified it.
I recognised the last chakra signature as one Sumire Hyuga.
So it wasn’t a worst-case scenario, thankfully.
That would involve someone like Kushina, one of the Sannin, Sakumo Hatake, or Might Dai showing up.
…wait… I was being arrogant again, assuming only named shinobi could kick my ass. That ANBU that had come after me before I’d established the hospital in Kiri had been plenty strong. Hmmm something to keep in mind, especially with the war.
Still, Sumire Hyuga….
Oh you poor little thing. Old women might say she’d been born under a sign of misfortune. It seemed like every time I encountered her, she grew a little more pitiable.
Today… well, I might be saying goodbye for the last time today.
I tapped my thigh in thought. Where there was usually one Hyuga, there was often another. My gaze sharpened as I considered Lord Fuza. He wasn’t going to stop talking unless something made him. This topic was too important for him to drop.
Perhaps I could make him postpone it?
A moment later an illusion of one of the servants burst into the room. “My Lord Fuza there is an emerge—”
“There will be no interference!” he replied sternly, snapping his head around and glowering at the illusion of the servant that had brought the news. “Lord Chen, see to this incident and make sure none disturb me!”
Lord Chen nodded and rose while I cursed within the privacy of my own mind. Of course he’d pass the issue off.
Mara shot me a narrow-eyed look that darted around the room only to arch an eyebrow at me. Her fingers danced through a hidden message.
‘Drop the illusion now, or I’ll make you do it!’ she shot at me.
I stared at her and shook my head before turning slightly towards the encroaching threat, only for her to frown and shake her head in confusion. I blinked at her only to understand the issue.
Ah, I’d outgrown her range, it would seem.
Which made a lot of sense. For all that she’d been the one to teach me the Mind’s Eye of the Kagura, she hadn’t tried to push it. Which was a good thing considering the state of her coils.
‘Enemy shinobi within range; need to handle them,’ I signed back.
Mara paused and pursed her lip only to frown a moment later. ‘Who?’ she signed.
‘Konoha’ I replied.
‘How can you tell?’ she asked.
Tiring of using hand signs in front of the others, I twisted the illusion again and spoke openly.
“I know one of them. She’s a rather unfortunate lass,” I said calmly.
Mara twitched in surprise only to glance around and blink. “Matsu,” she growled lowly. “I don’t like that you’ve hoodwinked my husband and friends!”
“Ah, sorry, not sorry,” I replied, causing her to blink.
“Sorry not sorry? What does that…” Her ire grew the moment she understood what she meant. “Don’t even apologise if you’re going to be flippant! You don’t do this to your friends!”
“I don’t, not usually, but when your husband is being obstinate…” I trailed off pointedly, moving towards a window in preparation to leap out of it. From there I’d fetch Himeko, Sharkbait and Fumikage just in case one of the other chakra signatures was someone that could be a threat.
“Matsu… what are you going to do to those Konoha nin?” Mara asked quickly.
“I’m going to have to kill them,” I replied.
“You don’t—”
Turning, I gave her a less-than-impressed look. “One of them at least is a Hyuga. Tell me, what do you think would happen when they noticed your chakra coils? Your network is unique for the damage done to it. If they dug around at all and spotted Hiroshi or Momotaro, they’d start piecing together that there are at least three people with larger than average chakra reserves posing as civilians.”
I continued before Mara could speak. “Konoha, of all the villages, will not want to allow loose Uzumaki. If they learn of you and your family’s existence, they will send teams to ‘extract you’ or worse, neutralise you.”
I bowed to her. “I’m sorry, it’s partially my fault. I’ve demonstrated how terrible a foe an enemy Uzumaki could be, and I don’t have any of the bloodline but the larger-than-average chakra reserves.”
Mara looked away. “I… I suppose I forgot what it’s like to be a shinobi… It’s been years now, spirits, but I have grown sloppy if I didn’t see that.”
“That’s not a bad thing,” I offered. “It just means that you’ve lived a good life. One that most of us should aspire to.” Turning back to the window, I prepared myself for what was to come.
“Matsu, do you need to kill them? Perhaps you—”
“Hope they don’t notice you? Mara, don’t be naive,” I replied.
She flinched and shut her eyes. “Is this what you want?” she asked.
I didn’t flinch, but her question certainly gave me pause.
I didn’t want to have to kill these shinobi.
I didn’t want to be a mindless weapon.
But…
But at the same time I wasn’t about to give Konoha a target with Mara’s family.
Worse, Rei was here, albeit she didn’t need to be, but she was doing good work here. One of the missions I’d never actually told her to conduct was to charm Hiroshi.
The old man was a craftsman who could only have gotten better at his craft with age. As an Uzumaki, that meant he had a lot more to offer as well.
There was potential for the Seven Swordsmen to grow if I got lucky.
At the moment, it seemed that Momotaro at least would be following after Rei when she returned to Kiri.
“You hesitated,” Mara murmured with a triumphant lilt.
“It doesn’t matter what I want,” I stated. “It’s what needs to be done.”
When I didn’t leap out the window straight away, I cursed as Mara grinned.
I shot her a look. “Is there a freaking extra bloodline for talking to people?” I asked her.
She blinked at me. “What on earth are you talking about?”
“Nothing, nevermind,” I replied as I moved back to sit where the others assumed I was.
Perhaps this wasn’t a bad idea. Most Konoha teams in the eastern continent right now need to have safety nets. If I attacked this group, would another possibly escape me?
If it was a choice-supportive bias, well, I chose to ignore it and instead settle down, only to realise that Lord Fuza was still trying to appeal to me with various arguments that were running into the brick wall of my illusion, basically denying everything I could in a seemingly polite manner.
—you would turn down a lordship?” the man proclaimed, reeling backwards only to shake his head. “Of course, I understand that your people mean the world to you and you can’t just abandon them. Truly Master Medic Matsu—” Again I gave Mara another glare only for her to giggle and for me to relent with a smile of my own.
I sat back and allowed Lord Fuza to wear himself down, my attention turning to the approaching Konoha team.
They walked into the city, moving in a rather large protection pattern around what looked like a caravan of people, but I soon worked out that there was always at least one or two shinobi positioned near one individual of the caravan.
Which implied a rich client.
“Tell me, Lord Fuza, have any of your nobles recently gone to the western continent?”
Most would refer to it as ‘the mainland’ while the east was just that, but in the east, it was reversed.
“Hmm? Ah," his face shifted into a look of annoyance. “Lord Edo,” he muttered with the tone of one announcing a hated rival.
“He’s still around and causing troubles?” I asked.
“Worse, he is trying to claim that he is owed something for Lord Chen’s marriage to Lady Yumi!” he snapped. “The nerve! If anything, there should have been a dowry arranged! The man is shameless! I have no doubt he has found some method of stirring trouble up while he was away!”
Hmmmm, interesting, it would appear that Lord Edo might just have managed that on multiple fronts.
I lounged with the Daimyo and continued to discuss the small details of what would be needed for Mara’s eventual birth, locking in a contract along with timings and important information that they both needed to know.
Fuza looked delighted when he was told his bedroom activities could continue for a few more months yet.
And all the while the team of Konoha Nin continued to walk towards me. Clones were sent to inform my friends about the potential issue.
Himeko was both happy I’d told her and annoyed that I wasn’t killing them outside the city. She made this doubly clear by calling me an idiot as she smashed my clone so I’d get the message.
I began monitoring the Konoha team more closely with each minute they approached. There wasn’t another team following them, making me wonder what their gambit was here. Was this merely a mission for them? If so, it was a poor choice.
I was just waiting to watch for the exact moment that—
Sumire and two of the other shinobi pulsed chakra through their eyes as they entered the city.
In response, I pulsed my own chakra, acting like a beacon. Turning my head I allowed myself a faint smirk as all three chakra signatures twitched in agitation, letting me know they’d seen me.
Hmmm three Hyuga? That was an odd makeup for a team of shinobi from Konoha. Why would you ever have…
Oh.
Was this a clan mission instead of a Konoha mission? Were there Hyuga retainers working with three Hyuga instead of a proper breakdown?
That… was extremely short-sighted. Which only made me suspect that to be the case more.
I drummed my fingers, watching through my chakra sense as the team of five shinobi converged on the central figure, who must be the leader of this cohort.
It must have been a heated debate, as all of their chakra, bar Sumire’s, fluctuated greatly.
Rather than attempt to flee, they continued on into the city, confirming that whoever was calling the shots here had more pride than sense.
The evidence of this being a purely Hyuga-run mission was starting to stack up greatly.
Did they really think that they could waltz into the Eastern continent like this and leave just like that?
Was this a trap from Konoha? Were they baiting for another Hyuga bloodline theft incident so they could decry Kiri?
I began searching around for any hidden shinobi, or summons, or… well anything.
Nothing revealed itself to me.
“Will Lord Edo make a spectacle of himself?”
“The first thing he will do is march into court and announce himself while he is still slick with the smell of the road,” Lord Fuza growled like such a thing was the height of impropriety.
Which, perhaps, it was for nobles?
I sent an illusion of me smelling my armpits at Mara, causing her to break out into giggles once more. I inclined my head towards the court. “When he is announced, might I be in attendance?” I asked innocently.
If the Hyuga were going to walk right up to me, well, I would be more than happy to sit and look them in the eyes. Perhaps they’d even make it easy for me by giving me a reason to kill them.
… if only.
Thirty minutes later, because, of course, a noble’s procession through the city took that long, I stood near the Daimyo in the garden.
It was a subtle flex of influence, proclaiming me as important to the Daimyo and an ally. The Hyuga were no doubt aware of this position. None of them had deactivated their eyes since they’d confirmed my presence.
Poor form that; they’d be lower on chakra than they should have been.
If they were that concerned, they should have been cycling their users instead of making all of them burn through their reserves.
My estimation of their leader was dropping by the second.
Around the garden others walked or mingled in their various factions. Mara gave me a running commentary of the various parties, and I idly made mental notes of it but the bulk of my attention was directed towards the Hyuga.
Would they be so idiotic as to have brought a main house Hyuga to the east?
“It’s rather petty of you, husband,” tittered Mara suddenly as I spotted Edo’s entourage making their arrival.
“I don’t have any idea what you could mean,” Lord Fuza replied with a tone of voice that let me know he very much did know.
Deciding to bite, I gave Mara a questioning look, and she preened. “By holding the afternoon court session in the garden, he has made it far more informal. There is no announcing or grand entrance for Lord Edo’s return as there might have been if this were held in the usual chambers.”
“Ah,” I replied, understanding her point now.
I made a show of nodding towards Lord Fuza. "Well played, my lord,” I complimented, and he lifted his chin slightly.
Without the announcement, instead of holding everyone’s attention, Lord Edo had to cause a bit of a stir himself and march across the garden towards Lord Fuza’s position.
Lord Edo was something of a rail-thin man with brown hair that actually did remind me of Yumi. Hmmm, it would seem the madam had chosen well with the idea of playing Yumi off as a child of a dalliance rather well.
People naturally noticed Lord Edo’s arrival, but rather than him holding everyone’s attention, and having people making way for him, he had to make his own path forward. It was interesting to see which groups he expected to move for him and which he knew to skirt around.
Merchants and other 'commoners' that had come to enjoy the Daimyo’s favour made way while samurai and other nobles of high esteem stood their ground.
Edo eyed the latter as he marched past them until he arrived before Lord Fuza where he adopted an oily smile.
“My Lord Fuza! I have returned from my… journey to the west! I have travelled far in their lands from the sweeping deserts to the lush rainfor—”
The rest of his greeting I ignored as I pointedly turned my attention towards his guards.
He had two samurai that looked extremely frustrated while behind them stood four matching shinobi in dull white robes with grey belts. Their billowing sleeves hide their hands in front of themselves in what should look elegant.
It was all rather ruined by the pinched expressions on their faces as they shot venomous looks at me.
Sumire on the other hand had a blank expression with dull eyes. She had long hair that fell down to her waist and pale skin that would be the envy of any woman. Hmmm, if she smiled she would be beautiful, I found myself thinking.
When her eyes shifted to me I offered her a smile.
Then, to tweak the other Hyuga’s noses, I made a show of looking over my shoulder playfully, like I couldn’t possibly be the target of their ire.
The dismissal of them as threats wasn't lost on any of them as they tensed for a moment like they wanted to strike me down.
When I turned back, they still looked angered. My BINGO book had listed my participation in the Hanae’s extraction in the Suna campaign, hadn’t it?
Since then I’d also racked up something of a kill count amoung their numbers, either when they tried hunting me down in the field or when I got into fights with their ANBU forces.
So they might just have a grudge against me.
The only one who wasn’t glaring at me was Sumire. She offered a small smile that I returned. Her companions twitched, and Sumire lowered her head.
One of the men raised his hands, and I felt him begin to mould his chakra.
I leant forward, more than ready to end them the moment they did anything.
If he gave me a reason…
My movement, slight as it was, caused the man to stop what he was doing and lower his hands. It didn’t stop him turning and giving Sumire a disgusted look.
She flinched once again, causing her robe to shift slightly.
I made sure not to look too closely, but a few things stood out to me with her shift in position.
That, and she was injured as each movement caused a slight hitch in her breathing. Something that should only occur with a shinobi when they were rather drastically injured, or hurt in a very specific way.
My eyes drifted up to her headband and then around to the other headbands all set in their proper place upon their Hyuga shinobi’s foreheads.
So… they were all ostensibly from the branch house of the Hyuga. I reconsidered the ‘leader of the group’. He certainly had a stick up his backside and would have fit into any nobleman’s court as ‘background proud character A’ as a fitting backdrop.
In his team he would have appeared to the watching nobles as nothing more than one of many. An equal to those around him, as it were.
But as the saying went. All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others…
“Do not break decorum!” The male Hyuga I was mentally dubbing as 'lead douche', hissed so quietly I knew no one else but shinobi would have heard it. His gaze turned back forwards.
Without really being able to tell why, I knew I was no longer their focus; they were observing Sumire more than me.
She had curled in on herself as much as she could while standing still. 'Wilted' was perhaps the best description.
Mara shot me a worried look, but I remained calm.
Sumire readjusted her robes slightly so the bruises vanished from sight.
Was she playing a game with me? Had she learnt how to seduce and entrap men?
Her eyes shifted about the room as though watching for potential angles an attack might come from and her body shivered. I never once got the feeling she looked to me with fear however…
Hadn’t I once thought her either the greatest actress I’d ever seen or the most pitiful girl I’d ever encountered?
I found myself once more wondering which it was, and I wished it was the former, as the latter… had implications that I found myself disliking.
Himeko and Sharkbait drifted into the garden behind the group of Hyuga, standing perfectly within their overlapping blindspot.
Sumire surprised me by sniffing the air slightly and turning her body.
Ho? So she knew about the blindspot?
She turned back only to find her leader once more scowling at her. She flinched again but made a sign to him. He sniffed but adjusted his positioning to track the new arrivals. He sent me an accusatory look like I was to blame for his walking into a potential ambush.
While he did that she shot me an apologetic look.
Hmmmm. Hmmmmmmm.
It seemed she was still the pitiful girl I recalled from the chunin exams… I gave the man another look only to tilt my head. He had a passing similarity to the boy that Sumire had fought back then, but that was to be expected with a clan like the Hyuga.
My gaze drifted to the final member of their entourage who, rather than having long black hair that looked like it had been brushed a thousand times before they went about their day, had dull dark brown hair that was shortly cropped to the length of their jawline. They also looked rather beaten down.
Hmmm, a by-blow of one of the clan perhaps? With how their headband was fixed on their forehead, there was a possibility they were a branch house member, or had married into the clan. They alone wore a flak vest, announcing that they were at least a chunin of Konoha.
“—when I heard the rumours of my lord’s grand news I immediately went to the best medics in the land and procured their services to bring them to you for your child’s needs!” Lord Edo proclaimed as he gestured towards the shinobi who stepped forward, Sumire, lagged just a little.
I got a slight look at one of her legs, catching sight of more bruising.
I hummed with interest as a plan began to piece itself together in my mind. It was a crazy plan with so, so many consequences, but at the same time… I found myself locking in the more details I noticed about this group.
Rei was going to be annoyed with me, but if she could pull it off… well, its success would forgive any sins I’d committed, as the saying went.
My small hum had caused people around me to pause, waiting for me to react. I offered a small smile and a nod to Lord Fuza, indicating that this was his call.
He took up the reins of the conversation immediately. “You presume much! Another would demand your head for such insinuations! I have already sought out the best medic to see to my wife and child’s needs!” he gestured to me, and I inclined my head in thanks once more. “It is not your duty to see to the care of my family!” snapped Fuza.
Edo bowed low. "Truly, my Lord, truly you are wise. I merely wished to do everything I could. And… surely it would never hurt to have a second opinion? Lest impropriety be raised?” he asked.
I rolled my eyes as various nobles began to whisper.
They did so love throwing that allegation around within this court. I’d have to spend some time in other courts to see if it was a universal argument to cause drama. I suspected it might be, as nobles had far too much time on their hands to scheme.
Lord Fuza gave Lord Edo a look that, if he was versed in genjutsu, might have been enough to send the older man running.
A twitch began to form on his temple.
If he wasn’t before, Lord Edo had just locked himself into place on Fuza’s shitlist.
His jaw worked for a moment before his eyes darted to me. I nodded and offered a wide smile with just a hint of teeth on display. Time to take to the stage and give these people a show.
“I would have no concerns with such a check-up! In fact I’d like to talk with an old friend!”
My smile turned towards Sumire and became softer as I offered her a hand while I added a small blush to my cheeks and a slightly breathy tone, making it appear I was smitten with Sumire. “Would you care to walk with me through Lord Fuza’s garden? It’s beautifully maintained, and while not as scenic as our last encounter, I would still enjoy talking with you.”
In response to my words, she gaped at me. Then a blush took over her features.
“You want to go on another date?” she gasped.
'Oh, Sumire, it’s like I’ve given you a script to read,' I thought to myself as she became a stuttering mess. A lance of killing intent began to stab into me from the Hyuga man, as well as from Himeko.
Sumire stiffened, head turning slightly, showing that I hadn’t been targeted alone, only for the Hyuga leader to step forward.
His hands shifted into an aggressive position. “You will do no such thing to one of my clan!” he growled.
Rather than hold ground, I backed away with a slight bow. “I’m sorry, it’s just that our chances of meeting amicably are so slim. I know we can never be more than…” I made a show of swallowing and dropping my gaze as though even saying that much was painful to admit.
Around me the court were eating up the unfolding drama. No one spoke; they all watched and listened.
Perfect.
“I merely wished to speak with her,” I replied, hiding my expression as I gave Mara a pointed look.
Her eyes widened and she stepped forward. "Well, I see nothing wrong with it! Don’t you, husband?” she prodded. “A walk through the gardens with so many chaperones would be very proper!”
He nodded stiffly. “Indeed it would! None could question it!” he proclaimed.
And just like that, the Hyuga leader looked unreasonable if he stood his ground.
“He is not to be trusted with one of ours!” he hissed. “This is a clan matter!”
“It is merely a walk,” replied Mara with a shake of her head. “Unless…” She gave the man a searching look. “Are you engaged with her?”
I wanted to kick Mara. That was not part of the script I wanted.
“No, she is to marry my brother, Joshiro,” he announced. “I, Jotaro Hyuga, will not allow her—”
“Well, if he’s not here, he can’t complain about a walk!” I announced as I shot up like a flower that had suddenly seen the sun.
A few noble women tittered. “So obviously smitten!”
"Isn't it romantic?” gushed another. “Star-crossed lovers that will never be!”
It almost felt too easy.
I advanced, weaving around the man in my way.
He attempted to stab me with his fingers twice, but I evaded him easily while keeping my eyes firmly locked on my ‘sun’ in Sumire.
And just like that I was next to Sumire, who was back to blushing and stuttering as I took her hand in mine.
Hmmm, she really was related to Hinata, wasn’t she?
My eyes softened slightly as I raised her hand up to give it a kiss like one would for romantic interest. Sumire looked about ready to run away or faint or do both. If I just so happened to trap Jotaro in an illusion for the moment to allow Sumire and me this ‘moment’, well, all's fair in love and war, as they say.
My lips touched her fingers, and her sleeve slid down, revealing a tapestry of bruises and welts to the onlookers.
Everyone who could see it paused. This wasn’t how the story should have advanced for them.
I made sure to take a very small step back so everyone saw it.
I stared at the bruises. Through contact with her skin I knew there were more, but even just what I’d revealed by exposing her forearm spoke of ongoing violence and abuse.
Swallowing thickly, I found it all too easy to slip into my ‘role’ in this drama now that the evidence was before me.
“Sumire… who has been hurting you?” I asked with a carrying whisper.
Sumire’s gaze fell as she tried to hide her arm by tugging on her hand in mine.
I resisted once, allowing more people to see if they were too slow. Then I let her hand go so she could 'hide the evidence’.
The garden remained perfectly silent.
I released Jotaro from his illusion, it was time for him to play his part once more.
“It is not your business to question our training methods!” he growled as he reached for me and grabbed my shoulder.
I turned, inwardly delighted that he’d touched me like that as, outwardly, I locked eyes with him.
“That’s not training. That’s abuse,” I stated firmly.
“That is not for you to decide!” He snapped at me as he tugged me away from Sumire.
I didn’t move an inch. Instead, I drew myself up as my chakra rolled outwards in an oppressive wave.
If I hadn’t had their attention before, I did now as I began to smother everyone with my ‘uncontrolled’ anger.
“Why is it that I must stand by as evil prospers?” If some of my own experience and memories of Kiri’s brutal methods slipped through my mind, causing my words to echo despite being outside.
“You say it is not for me to decide? Why have I spent years training to grow strong if not to help shape the world into something good and just?” Some samurai and monks in the crowd nodded, agreeing with the ideal.
My hand gestured towards Sumire. “These marks on her arm are inexcusable!”
Instead of trying to meet my words with logic or denouncing me, or even bluffing by calling this all an illusion, the other man struck at me, his fingers knifing towards my throat.
Faster than a blink of the eye, I caught the hand and shifted my position. I was now slightly in front of Sumire with my back to her.
Was it a risk?
Absolutely, but I was confident in my read of her. I glanced back once to catch her expression.
She did nothing but stare at me hopefully.
Jotaro’s face contorted fearfully only for him to crush it ruthlessly. His chakra blazed along his arm into his finger as he attempted to tap me with a finger.
I responded by lancing my chakra into him, causing his body to collapse into unconsciousness. Even as I did this I felt the seal on his skull begin to activate, so I pulled my chakra away from his skull and towards his heart, pinching the blood flow lower to cause him to pass out.
In the blink of the eye that this took, I made sure to punch him for the crowd.
He fell to the ground limply but clearly still had his chest rising and falling.
In this situation I couldn’t let any drop be shed from my fighting. Instead, I needed to make myself look as heroic as possible.
Sweeping around I caught Sumire’s hands in mine. “There, he won’t hurt you anymore; I’ll make sure of it. We can run away together and—”
The other two Hyuga charged me, one with fists that seemed on fire while the other had fingers extended.
Their attempt went as well as Jotaro’s did, with me twisting around their strikes only to catch them and then knock them out with a single blow.
And just like that, I knew my course was set.
I turned back to Sumire and cupped her cheek. “Please, let me help you?” I asked.
“Is this some illusion or some dream?” she asked quietly, her voice barely emerging from her lips.
“No, dreams are cruel as you eventually wake up.”
“Why does kindness only ever come from those who were supposed to be my enemy?” she asked with watery eyes.
“I suppose that’s the world’s fault. I’m trying to fix that. Until I do, can you trust me that I’ll look after you?”
“Oddly enough, I think I do,” she murmured, head bowing down.
I wrapped my arms around her. “I’m not going to lie,” I whispered. “Your family will probably curse your name for what I intend.”
“Is that supposed to be a negative?” she replied with a hint of humour.
I gave her a sad look. It really shouldn’t be this easy…
“I’m sorry," I offered, knowing that there was a lot I could apologise for.
I wasn’t sorry about what was going to happen to her former teammates.
I wasn’t sorry about stealing her away.
Nor was I sorry about tilting her head and kissing her softly in a very public place to seal the story in everyone’s minds.
What I was sorry about was that I’d just made her the Helen of Troy of the elemental nations.
Thousands would die, and the masses would largely attribute it to her.
Sumire, the woman who started the third shinobi war. That would be her Legend.
I knew differently.
This was a spark in a situation with many, many barrels of oil that had been waiting to go off since the last war ended.
Before that could occur, however, there would be some loose ends to tie up to help secure Sumire’s future as well as my own.
_______________________
That night I sat on the porch with Sumire asleep on my shoulder.
She hadn’t said anything, but she also hadn’t let go of me since that afternoon’s incident. It didn’t take a genius to understand that she’d been terrified that I’d vanish on her if she did.
Like mist in the morning sun.
I sat in the compound, knowing that I now sat within the eye of a political storm.
I had no doubt that nobles, merchants, samurai and even monks were right now telling the story of Matsu and Sumire, two star-crossed lovers that were never meant to be, until not even national borders could divide them.
Sharkbait dropped down in front of me, having snuck across the compound’s walls. “Got them,” he answered before I could ask him any questions.
“No witnesses?” I asked.
“Nope. Had to rig a small explosive tag to their faces and change their clothes, but I found a close enough match for each of them. The Daimyo’s guards won’t know what to do with the corpses, but they’ll be able to blame the caged bird seal going off as the most likely suspect once we leak the rumours. Their standard protocol is to cremate the bodies which will work wonderfully to further muddy the waters.”
“Excellent work,” I said, giving him a nod.
“I got the unconscious Hyuga to Rei’s workshop out in the woods, and Fumikage was with her so they should be fine if things go south and the Hyuga wakes up,” he stated before yawning and shaking his head.
“Also excellent,” I stated again.
Sharkbait glanced around. “No sign of Himeko yet?”
“She’s still chasing her target,” I replied, feeling a momentary spike of guilt at sending the bloodthirsty woman after the medic that Konoha had brought. In the wake of my ‘abduction of my beloved,’ the last Konoha nin hadn’t attempted to stick around and had instead fled.
I hadn’t been able to give chase and instead delegated the task to Himeko.
“They’re probably going to get a message away, you realise?” Sharkbait asked.
“Yeah, that’s probably what’s going to happen, but a written report, hastily written while fleeing Himeko, is much different than a verbal face-to-face… or, in Konoha's case, a slip into their memories by a Yamanaka.”
Sharkbait made a face. “Freaking fuckers. Not looking forward to fighting them.”
“You’ll be fine. Just keep your head on a swivel and watch out for anyone doing that weird handseal of theirs.”
“Any progress in creating counters or copying it with the research department?” Sharkbait asked.
For a moment I considered denying such a place existed only to sigh. “Not as yet. It’s something they’ve developed over generations and is extremely sensitive, so I’m not surprised.”
“Shame, well, I guess I should get some rest,” he said, stretching and shaking his head. “You should probably do the same.”
His eyes dipped to Sumire. “You sure this is a good idea?”
“Oh no, it’s probably a terrible idea, but…” I opened and closed my hand in a what can you do gesture.
“Hmmmm, alright, but just because she’s pretty doesn’t mean you should drop your guard around her, alright, Matsu?” he called as he sauntered off.
“I’ll keep that in mind, and thank you for helping me Kenta,” I called.
He paused and rubbed a finger under his nose bashfully. “Eh, just call me Sharkbait Matsu. It’s weird when you’re all formal like this.”
“Hmmm, just recognising good work when it is done,” I replied with a smile. “Good night.”
He nodded back, a smile fixed on his face as he went inside.
I continued to sit, plotting out the course of events to come.
Beside me, Sumire continued to sleep.
Above stars shone brightly without a care for what was to come.
Eventually a door slid open in the room behind me, and Rei stumbled out with Fumikage assisting her.
A sound of something spinning through the air had me creating a tentacle of water from a puddle to catch the projectile.
“Here,” Rei stated. “I was able to get three of the eyes extracted. On the last one I got past the seal and was able to neutralise it, so you’ll get more from autopsying it.
“I could have used you to extract the eyes you know?” she growled at me as she marched towards the deck in front of her room where she sank down onto the edge.
She glowered at me only for the look to soften when she shifted to Sumire’s slumbering form. “I’d like a bit more time before attempting anything with your… girlfriend?” Rei asked, probing for details.
“Hmmmmm, fiancé most likely," I replied thoughtfully, weighing the scroll in my hand. I was probably going to have to marry Sumire at this rate. That… was going to annoy some people.
Rei stared at me, then down at Sumire pointedly. When I still didn’t take the hint she coughed. “You know, I have to say I did not see that coming. How long have you been seducing this one for?”
"Oh…" I made a show of thinking about it. “I suppose since this afternoon.”
In truth, I had been making sure to offer whatever comfort I could to the shaken woman. She was only just starting to understand that she’d flipped everything on its head and nothing she knew was going to be the same going forward.
I’d sat and listened, stroked her hand and face, and when she needed it, wrapped her in a hug and reminded her that I was there for her.
Now she slept with a small smile on her face that made her… well, she was beautiful like this. Frowns and sadness didn’t suit a woman like her.
Hopefully, in the days to come, I could keep her smiling.
Another projectile came at me, and this time I caught it in my hand.
It was a rock.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, glancing over to find Rei scowling at me.
“You! That’s what’s wrong! Did you use your freaking talk jutsu bloodline on her? That’s bullshit! An afternoon?!”
“It takes you longer than that?" I teased, amused that she’d almost gotten the phrase right with the talk-no-jutsu.
Deciding to keep up the game I adopted an offended look. “I’ll have you know I leaned heavily on my beauty for this to work!” I grabbed a strand of my hair and flicked it lightly. “If you’ve got it, you just need to flaunt it so I fla—”
Another rock was thrown at me, and I knocked it out of the air this time with my own rock.
“Be serious!” Rei snapped, only to stiffen when Sumire shifted in her sleep and mumbled something unintelligible.
Rei slumped then waved a hand. “Gengetsu will never let her live.”
“Gengetsu will want to keep her alive for a lot of reasons,” I replied seriously. “She’s a thread he can tug on to guarantee my compliance. She’s a trophy that signifies we’re better than Konoha. She’s a potential future bloodline brought to Kiri, and it also helps our image.”
Rei drummed her fingers. “That’s the story that’s making the rounds right? I’ve heard the servants gossiping about it nonstop since this afternoon.”
“Mhmm, it will shape much of the war to come. Win or lose, Kiri looks… romantic now,” I said.
“Huh… you really have thought this through.”
“Hmmm,” I replied. Was it bad that I’d thought most of those reasons up before acting on my plan? Would it have been better if I justified it after the act?
“So…what happens now?” asked Rei.
“Now? The mission to destroy the bases in the other nations will need to be closed out as everything has changed. I’ll present myself and Sumire to Kiri as a win for us all. Then I will likely be assigned to a position where I may or may not die. Sink or swim as it were.” I glanced at the scroll Rei had thrown at me. I’d hold onto this for my allies…
“That’s… not a good thing Matsu,” Rei pointed out.
“No, but it’s better that I take the tough assignments than another. I have better chances of emerging victorious while also limiting the death toll on our side.”
“...that’s true,” she conceded. “Anything I can do to help?”
“Continue looking into the summon and sealing fuinjutsu, or find me a way to cancel sealing script, cause otherwise I’m screwed when Konoha sends out someone able to use the second Hokage's jutsu.”
“I’d complain, but I know I’ll be sitting in my workshop for the next few months at least with tea and snacks on hand while you’ll be in a dirt bunker somewhere.”
“Most likely. But that’s life sometimes,” I offered with a shrug.
Rei rose and stumbled over to me tiredly, waving off Fumikage’s offer of help.
She leant down and kissed me lightly on the cheek. “I’m going to miss you Matsu,” she whispered. “Make sure you survive. I want you to be Mizukage and achieve all your dreams.”
I nodded, knowing that such a day was both a long way off and potentially not that far at all. And after the war... Well that might actually be a tougher fight than the war… for multiple reasons.
“Yeah, I just need to survive the war, no biggie,” I replied, earning a snort from her as she left.
With her gone, I allowed myself to lean towards Sumire and put my head atop hers.
It was nice going to sleep having someone hold onto you.
I’d have to make sure to enjoy this as much as I could before I was deployed.
For now, I enjoyed my moment of peace, fleeting as I knew it would be.
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A.N. Thanks go to my patreons for your continued support!
It also goes to Twmmy for proofreading this chapter!
What do people think of Matsu stealing more Hyuga eyeballs and potentially stealing a Hyuga wife? The Helen of Troy angle is something I’ve been toying with for a while and I rather like it as the ‘casus belli’ for the reason the war starts.
What should the next chapter be? Tomorrow when the war began? Or Red Dawn of war?
Tomorrow when the war began. Now that is a great movie.. even if Australian.. - Twmmy