Saying that Naruto and Sasuke had taken the news badly would have been an understatement. Sasuke was burning with rage again upon realizing how they planned to use him as a bargaining chip—worse, as an object without thoughts of his own, a tool to manipulate Naruto and her, and, on top of that, as an experiment. Naruto, on the other hand, was resentful that they intended to use him due to his sometimes worrisome naïveté, which he himself acknowledged he possessed. Seina, finally, couldn't believe the strings Danzo was willing to pull for power and how the Hokage was doing nothing to cut ties with Orochimaru and Danzo, to put it bluntly.
And yes, perhaps she was being too harsh, given that her mentor only had seven trusted ninjas to help uncover the extent of Danzo and Orochimaru's schemes. But months had passed. Either she recruited more trustworthy people to help with the investigation, or it would take years to uncover the truth—meanwhile, Danzo would continue roaming free.
"This is all the Third's fault," she hissed. Sasuke nodded firmly beside her. "He should have arrested Orochimaru when he had the chance in Konoha instead of letting him escape, and he should have dealt with Danzo when he took up the role of Hokage again after our father's death."
Naruto, who had deeply appreciated Sarutobi, seemed unsure of what to say. On one hand, he thought Sarutobi had simply been an old man dragged out of retirement, doing what he could. But on the other hand, he knew she was right. She didn't even need to fabricate anything to speak ill of the Third; his personal motives had led to so many terrible decisions that she could just pick one and rant about it.
It was the Third who had given Danzo free rein, turning a blind eye, to reestablish Ne, even though her father had banned it for good reason during his two-year tenure. The same man who refused to see the deplorable behaviour of his student, Orochimaru, and let him escape because he felt sorry for imprisoning him as the traitor he was. The same Hokage who failed to keep the identities of the village's jinchurikis a secret. The same one who did nothing when the academy, the orphanage, and their landlord mistreated them, despite knowing they could be poisoned against the village. The same leader who never acted to counteract the Uchihas' growing detachment or the bullying they endured from the villagers, which ultimately led to their massacre.
Hiruzen Sarutobi had been a terrible Hokage ever since he came out of retirement. She was so angry because now they had to pay for that old man's mistakes, even though they bore no fault in any of this. Due to him, Kakashi was leaning more and more toward returning to ANBU. Seina had been indoctrinated much earlier than expected. Sasuke was being hunted like an organ factory. Naruto and she were on the verge of becoming Danzo's weapons. And probably even more things she wasn't aware of yet. Because of him, the Hokage had no choice but to send them far away from the village while she tried to resolve the conflict peacefully for Konoha's sake, relying on Jiraiya's presence to deter Danzo.
"By the way, happy birthday," she said with as much enthusiasm as possible.
"Thanks, Seina."
Kakashi and Seina were sitting on the large L-shaped couch, deep in thought and silence. Naruto and Sasuke were in the training shed, working out their frustration after spending the entire afternoon discussing what was happening and the information they had spied on. Seina pulled out a wrapped book and handed it to him, seeing that they weren't going anywhere to celebrate. Kakashi didn't seem sad about spending his birthday at home, so Seina decided to bake a cake for them to celebrate together, at least.
"Here. I hope you like it."
"A book?" he said as soon as he saw the leather cover. "Who's the author?"
"Me."
Kakashi quickly looked up while flipping through the pages without really reading them, observing the polished binding.
"You?" he smiled. "Since when do you write? And what made you decide to write a book?"
"I've written a few books in my life, you know?" Some academic, but others were novels and stories meant for her children. "Besides, I told you the plots of the pervert's books are awful. Don't you remember?"
"Are you telling me you wrote a book over 400 pages long just to prove that Jiraiya-sama is a bad erotic novel writer?" Kakashi asked rhetorically, trying not to laugh out loud.
"Yes. Also…" she grinned mischievously, making him sit up straight. "This book is magical. You'll see."
"Then, do you mind if I start reading it?"
"Go ahead."
She smiled innocently. Maybe he would have to read the countless erotic scenes in his room, alone, but she wasn't about to spoil the surprise. Kakashi looked at her with amusement and a calculating gaze before opening the cover to read the first page. She watched him from the corner of her eye, noticing how he stopped and reread a few lines, blinking. He looked at her over the book with a blank expression before diving back in. A few pages later, he lifted his eyes from the paper again, and they stared at each other.
"Am I going crazy… or am I experiencing sensations that aren't mine, as if I were in the protagonist's skin?"
"Who knows?" she smiled behind her book. "But imagine when you get to an interesting part."
Kakashi stared at her again, realizing what she had done to the book. His face instantly turned red, and Seina had to bite her lip to keep from laughing out loud. What was going through his precious mind?
"I won't be able to read this in public."
"You can, but you might have a hard time."
A while later, Sasuke and Naruto came out of the shed drenched in sweat and smelling of blood. Seina healed them with exasperation, seeing how they had hit each other harder than usual in a ridiculous attempt to rid themselves of their anger. She sent them to shower while her clones prepared dinner, and Kakashi continued reading avidly—with a cushion on his lap, it was worth noting. Seina bit her tongue to keep from laughing and went to prepare the small cake. When she turned around, she saw that the other jonin had disappeared, and she heard his bedroom door close behind him.
"I think he likes it," Kurama laughed maliciously.
"What do you think about everything we found out today?"
"It was obvious something weird was going on… Now that you have almost all the information that concerns you, you can decide what to do. Do you leave it in the Hokage's hands, or do you act?"
"Tsunade-sama is the leader, not me. I'm only twelve, almost thirteen. Besides, what could I do? If I kill Danzo, we'll never know the full truth. I highly doubt the information they got from his subordinates covers 100% of his schemes. If he's smart, he'll have ways to counter anyone digging into his business. What happens if I kill him and then someone else takes his place without us realizing? Too risky."
"I think the same."
"Not to mention, I'd become the council's target because, without a doubt, I'd be a suspect. Especially once Tsunade-sama shows them all the evidence she has against Danzo."
"Maybe you should kill those old council members too. You know, let the Hokage start fresh."
"I can't just kill everyone I don't like," she rolled her eyes. "I don't even know if they've done anything illegal. Being an asshole and a pain in the ass isn't punishable by death. Yet."
"Suit yourself."
Kurama didn't really care about the whole Danzo and Orochimaru mess. He knew Seina could escape or save herself with her powers. Besides, her brother and Sasuke were mostly indifferent to him, even knowing his other half was inside Naruto. In Kurama's view, there was no point in worrying about Naruto and Sasuke because he knew she wouldn't let anything bad happen to them. Given that perspective, she understood why he was so relaxed, but that didn't stop part of her from tensing, waiting for something to go wrong.
"Is that chocolate I smell?" Naruto drooled as he came down the stairs.
"A chocolate cake."
She smacked their hands with a spoon to stop them from touching her creation, which was about to go into the magic oven. Kakashi came downstairs a little later, once they had already set the table and the cake was magically resting on the marble countertop. Naruto and Sasuke gave Kakashi their gifts, accepting his gratitude despite the strange day they had had. They ate cake and talked about the Christmas festival they planned to attend together since they had missed the summer one due to the chunin exams. Again.
When Sunday arrived the next day, Seina woke up feeling surprisingly well. She had been going through a rough time, filled with bad news and traumatic missions, but she felt better than expected. She knew that, no matter what happened, her team would emerge victorious. She would accept no other outcome.
"What do you think about us being assigned to all missions together until further notice?" Sasuke asked her.
"It's a good strategy by Shikaku," she shrugged. "He knows we can communicate mentally, so if something happens during a mission, we can escape easily using the hiraishin."
"But you'll be doing lower-ranked missions!"
"I know, Naru, but I don't mind."
The truth was, she preferred to be with her team rather than take on higher-ranked missions alone. Just as she had thought, they weren't sent on a new mission right away. Since everyone was in the village—including Kakashi and Jiraiya—it was safer for them to stay within Konoha's walls. With nothing else to do, they stuck to their usual routine.
On Monday, they met up with their friends to continue training. Seina discreetly scanned their surroundings, but with two Hyugas, an Inuzuka, and an Aburame present, it seemed impossible for anyone to spy on them without being detected. Even so, she was starting to feel a strange sensation, like the beginning of a bad premonition. Since they were all trustworthy, Seina allowed herself to worry less about Naruto and Sasuke's safety, but it seemed they were the ones who preferred not to stray too far from her.
"If you keep acting like this, people will start to notice something's wrong," Seina told Sasuke and Naruto. "Especially you, Naruto."
"What's going on?" Neji asked abruptly.
"Nothing!"
Sasuke closed his eyes in exasperation, mentally groaning at Naruto's quick—and suspicious—response. The others immediately realized something was up. They needed to teach Naruto how to be more discreet as soon as possible, or they were screwed.
"Nothing's wrong," she cut in with a slightly authoritative tone.
Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at her, as did Neji, but they didn't press further. The others exchanged silent glances but accepted her unspoken order to drop the subject. They headed back to the village. Seina walked between Naruto and Sasuke, ready to grab them and disappear if anything strange happened—but nothing did.
Nothing happened on Tuesday either, when the three of them trained with their ANBU friends. Nor on Wednesday, when they stayed home. Nor on Thursday and Friday, when she worked at the hospital while Naruto and Sasuke trained with Kakashi. She would have liked to think she was just being paranoid, but with each passing day, the pit in her stomach grew deeper, and the tingling at the back of her neck felt like a warning.
Sasuke and Naruto, connected to her, confirmed she wasn't imagining it. It was hard to make things up when they were mentally linked. But that only made them more tense as they waited for an attack. Seeing how on edge they were, Kakashi urged them to relax.
"The last thing you want is to make a mistake or attack an innocent person," he told them. "Why don't you go to the hot springs with your friends?"
That was how, on the last Monday of September, they ended up taking a bath instead of training with the other chunin. Seina, leaning against a rock, closed her eyes while discreetly keeping an eye on her surroundings. She listened to her friends talk—mostly Ino and Tenten—and sharpened her hearing, occasionally using her aura spell to stay alert.
"Naruto and Sasuke have been more tense lately than Neji was last year," Ino said, clearly tired of their silence and serious expressions. "What the hell is going on?"
She looked Ino in the eye, debating whether to warn her friends, who were also in danger just by being close to them. But she decided against it. They would start asking questions and getting involved to try to help. She just hoped her bad premonition would pass soon so that Naruto and Sasuke could start acting normal again. Otherwise, she'd have to teach them how to fake it. Especially Naruto, who didn't have a single discreet bone in his body.
"Nothing's wrong, Ino. You know that feeling when you think something's going to happen? Like a sixth sense? That's all."
"And that's it?"
"It's just a bad premonition." She hoped she was right.
The others relaxed at her explanation, assuming that, since they were connected, her team must have been feeling the same thing.
"I get that feeling sometimes," Hinata confessed. "Some say it's because of the Byakugan."
"Because of the Byakugan?"
"There are some myths that say we can predict the future with our eyes," she shrugged. "I'm not so sure about that."
"All myths and legends have a grain of truth."
"Do you think it's real?" Tenten asked sceptically.
"Maybe they used to say that because the Byakugan can see from very far away. I imagine that if Hinata saw, let's say, a murder from a distance, she would know about it before anyone else, right? Maybe the Hyuga texts confused 'seeing before others' with 'predicting.' We all know how things get lost in translation over time."
"Huh," the three of them blinked. "That's a solid theory."
They stayed in the water for a long time. When Seina got out, she felt more relaxed than expected—and not just her, but Naruto and Sasuke as well.
Surprisingly, on Tuesday, they were finally assigned a mission relatively close by.
"We can't put the village on hold every time something happens, so we'll have to rely on your skills," the Hokage said with a sigh. "Your mission is to escort some clients to Shukuba. I imagine you know where that is."
Naruto grinned, remembering the last time he had visited the city. Seina wasn't as thrilled—her brother had nearly been kidnapped there. Meanwhile, Sasuke simply nodded, hands in his pockets. It didn't take a genius to see he was bored of being stuck in the village training without being able to work. The only unusual thing they had done—and it wasn't even that extraordinary—was send a letter to Itachi informing him of their current issues. They weren't expecting a reply, but maybe he could keep Orochimaru away from Konoha in some way. At the very least, they would keep him informed as usual.
"Be careful," Kakashi told them when he ran into them at home after sending a clone with a note.
They left the village through the main gate. The clients turned out to be a respectable family who needed an escort due to death threats they had received in recent weeks.
"Do you have any idea who might have sent them?" Naruto asked.
"No, but it wouldn't be for a lack of envious people," the woman said, lifting her nose with an arrogant expression.
Sasuke looked away, pretending to scan the surroundings so he could roll his eyes in exasperation. Seina, who had considerable experience dealing with people like that, simply gave a poker-faced smile and mentally kicked Naruto when she saw his eyes narrowing in irritation. Luckily, the clients didn't seem interested in making conversation with them and instead talked amongst themselves inside the Western-style carriage they had rented along with two horses.
Seina silently gave thanks that they had rented the carriage; otherwise, she could already imagine the countless complaints about having to travel on foot. She left one of her clones in charge of the horses while the rest of them walked around the carriage. She took the rear while Naruto and Sasuke covered the sides.
"What a bore," Naruto yawned mentally. "At least we don't have to entertain them."
"Shut up, dobe, don't jinx it," Sasuke hissed.
She discreetly yawned while scanning the surroundings with her aura-sensing spell. They were alone. The journey felt unbearably long. They had to stop several times so that both adults—except for the child, who was asleep—could relieve themselves behind a tree, complaining about how unhygienic it was. Seina rolled her eyes. The day passed uneventfully until nightfall. The clients, whose names she had forgotten with disinterest, locked themselves inside the caravan to sleep while the three of them remained outside, as expected.
Since she wasn't sleepy, she took the first watch while her teammates slept. After three hours, she woke Sasuke.
"Anything happen?"
"Nothing."
Seina settled into the driver's seat, using Naruto as a cushion. She forced herself to sleep sitting up, though she used a few spells to make herself comfortable.
She was awakened not long after by the tingling sensation of a genjutsu. She remained still in her reclined position and didn't open her eyes. Next to her, Sasuke was awake and fully alert, thanks to the pendant he had asked her to create, which had allowed him to detect the genjutsu without falling into it.
"We've got trouble," he said, as if she didn't already know.
"They're outside my barriers," she remarked, wondering if it was just a coincidence or if they had seen her set up the perimeter and, for some reason, didn't dare to come any closer.
Before she could wake Naruto, someone lunged toward the clearing. They rebounded off the barriers with a muffled growl. Naruto jolted awake, his eyes snapping open, while Sasuke and Seina drew their weapons, ready to face their unknown attackers. At this point, she seriously doubted that their enemies were only after their clients—unless someone hated them so much they had hired a team of ninjas to eliminate them.
Strangely, nothing happened after that first attack. They remained there, under the protection of the barriers, for the rest of the night. The three of them stayed awake, silently keeping watch. As long as they stayed inside, they wouldn't be harmed. What she didn't want was to continue traveling with three civilians in the middle of the night, knowing there were enemies lurking outside.
"It looks like they've left."
"No. They're still out there, just further away. Now they know we're protected by barriers. They won't make the same mistake again."
"They also realized the genjutsu didn't work," Sasuke acknowledged.
As soon as the sun rose, they set out again. They summoned several clones to scout the area and then took the main road. It was a busy route, so their attackers would think twice before trying again—or so she hoped. Fortunately, the clients were still asleep, even with the rattling of the wooden wheels and the steady trotting of the horses.
Seina knew they would try again. The attack at night had only been a test, a probe. Now they had gathered useful information to attempt something different. At their current pace, they would reach Shukuba in three days, even though it was relatively close to Konoha.
"Why don't we just use the hiraishin?"
"Do you really think these two fools would agree to teleport after making such a big show of renting a carriage like they're some kind of daimyo?"
"Sasuke's right. It's all for appearances, Naru."
"We're hungry, shinobi. Find a place to stop."
Seina rolled her eyes again, swallowing back a sigh. They stopped as close to the road as possible. Seeing people coming and going, they assumed it was a relatively safe spot for breakfast. Honestly, as she ate, she wondered if it would be best to use the same strategy she had once used while escorting a child.
"What do you think about putting them under a sleeping spell before sunset?" she suggested mentally. "We could use a few extra hours of daylight to move forward. With a bit of luck, we might avoid a third night in the forest."
"Good idea."
While they ate, she discreetly cast several spells on the carriage to make it travel faster without the passengers noticing any discomfort. Once they got back on, she signalled her clone to pick up the pace. The two well-rested horses obeyed without trouble. Between them and the weight-reducing enchantments she had placed on the carriage, they were moving at an impressive speed. The clients, seated inside reading and tending to their eight-year-old son, didn't seem to notice a thing.
"We're a quarter of the way there," Naruto said, glancing at the map and their surroundings. "We've made good progress today."
"If they're following us—and I think they are—they'll soon realize we're getting to our destination faster than expected."
"That is, if they're actually after them," she muttered under her breath.
She watched the clients as they ate at a terrace restaurant in a village where they had stopped to rest. Seina grew impatient at how much time they were wasting on food and idling. The damn child, who had been quiet the entire trip, chose that exact moment to throw a tantrum, delaying their journey—and her plan. Clearly, they had no idea of the danger they were in, or if they did, they didn't care. She suppressed a sigh as she scanned the surroundings.
She wasn't sure why, but she had a bad feeling.