They waited for Jiraiya to leave the shop the next day to begin their revenge. Changing the fortunes in Jiraiya's cookies was incredibly easy. She just had to conjure a piece of paper with the phrase and perform a switching spell. Enchanting his mirror was harder because she knew there would be traps in his room. So, she sent one of her summons directly into the bathroom without triggering the barriers. Then she sent a clone to tie the mirror to the summon. She unsummoned it, took the mirror from the suitcase where it had ended up, enchanted it, and returned it the same way. As for his underwear… She just sent an invisible spell the moment he turned his back. It would take a while to take effect, so he didn't even notice.
"Is it done?"
"Yeah."
She heard her siblings' mental laughter, joining in as she imagined his face. They noticed when the spell on his clothes activated—he suddenly stopped explaining something and frowned. Then he tried stretching his legs under their falsely confused gazes. He made a strange face for a few seconds, probably feeling how his testicles and penis were being compressed in his underwear, but said nothing.
"As I was saying. I'll start with Seina first, since she has the most control, then Naruto. Ready?"
She nodded. She lay down on the floor, revealing her flat stomach under everyone's gaze. Through the others' eyes, she saw the circular seal appear around her navel. She had to stifle a gasp as her connection with Kurama quintupled in just a few seconds. If before he could see through her, feel what she felt… now it was like they were fused. They could separate, but right now, they were the same entity. She saw her eyes through Sasuke and Naruto's vision. They were violet with small blood-coloured specks, but her pupil had transformed into Kurama's—elongated and much more functional than her human one. She could see far more than she usually could.
"Finally…" hissed Kurama, stretching his arms. Or was it her? She certainly wanted to stretch them, so she wasn't sure who did it.
She realized her hands had changed too. Her fingers looked slightly longer, and her nails were long and razor-sharp, like Kurama's claws. She didn't get to keep examining her partial transformation, but it didn't feel too different. It definitely wasn't Version 2, the one Kurama had told her about.
"Seina? Are you okay?"
"Yeah. We're fine. Better than fine." Her vocal cords adjusted until her voice was a blend of hers and Kurama's. She blinked, hearing her voice deeper, more… seductive.
She stood up, letting Kurama pilot the body while she closed her eyes, savouring the pleasure of having a body and breathing real air.
"How long do you think you can keep this… fusion going without problems?" asked Jiraiya.
They opened their eyes, sitting next to Sasuke.
"Indefinitely. I have access to Kurama's chakra like it's my own in this mode, so I can maintain the partial form as long as he doesn't run out of chakra."
"Huh. That's, good? Good to know. How about we do a practice match, you and me?"
They smiled dangerously, standing again. Jiraiya seemed to shiver at the sight but stood up as well. They didn't give him a second. With enhanced vision and near-invisible speed, they managed to punch him several meters away before he could even blink. When he got back on his feet, he saw something had changed—Jiraiya was using senjutsu.
"Cheater," they said when they saw it, grinning wide.
They began a taijutsu battle that, surprisingly, the pervert was losing. With her new reflexes, limitless energy, magic, speed, and evasive taijutsu, he couldn't land a single hit. She threw one of her chains to defend herself and blinked when she saw it was blood red with a soft golden glow like her usual chains. She hadn't even needed to mold Kurama's chakra—she was using both his and hers simultaneously. They were one.
Suddenly, without even knowing how—and yet knowing exactly how—a thick layer of chakra started wrapping around her, vaporizing slightly in contact with the air. Jiraiya's eyes widened, and he dodged her new strike using ninjutsu. The earth wall disintegrated, but he was already gone.
They could fight all day—they had no limits. Jiraiya, on the other hand, didn't have unlimited chakra, and even though he could use sage chakra, it was obvious the hits were wearing him down. She knocked him out by appearing behind him with magic before he could even register her disappearance. He collapsed, K.O.
"Wow…" came Naruto's whisper in the distance when he saw she'd beaten a ninja almost 40 years her senior.
"I want to try disconnecting from you. Give me a second," said Kurama.
Seina didn't do anything while Kurama… un-wove himself from her. It was the best possible description. She felt herself return to normal, just like before Jiraiya had modified the seal—but they both knew Kurama could now leave the cage. She entered her mind and saw the bars from before were now smaller. There was barely a seal left.
She sent a spell to Jiraiya to wake him up.
"Ugh…" he groaned, touching his head. "This reminds me of my fights with Tsunade."
She approached to heal his wounds and headache.
"You beat me," Jiraiya said, surprised, beginning to smile. "A 13-year-old girl beat me in 10 minutes."
"A 13-year-old girl who's the jinchuriki of the most powerful bijuu," she rolled her eyes, "with a brand-new kekkei genkai, too. And you didn't even use your ninjutsu or summons! Don't mess with me!"
"…That's because you literally didn't give me the chance," he muttered with exasperation.
"I want in too!" Naruto shouted, jumping down from the tree branch.
"Maybe tomorrow, Naruto. I'm beat."
"What!?"
"Dobe, can't you see Seina gave him a beating?" said Sasuke, jumping down too and giving him a light smack on the head mid-landing.
"Hey!" Jiraiya complained—but didn't deny it.
They sat down to practice other things while Jiraiya jotted down a few notes and she meditated on the seal. Still, what she and Kurama really wanted was for him to have his own body.
"For that, you'd have to remove the seal, and even then, I'd have a gigantic body," Kurama laughed.
"A gigantic body... Mmmm..."
She started thinking about something. Could she somehow create a body for Kurama, connected to her through her chakra?
"Your chains," he interrupted, hearing her thoughts. "You could keep us connected through them."
"Maybe."
She had to think it through more, but an idea was forming—a way to cheat the system so Kurama could have a body. The problem? She'd need supervision in case anything went wrong, and in the next few days it was Naruto's turn to try training with Kurama's chakra. She watched her brother as Jiraiya modified his seal. She immediately noticed something was off. The chakra overwhelmed Naruto, who began transforming rapidly because he wasn't used to using it like she was. Jiraiya placed the fuinjutsu talisman on his forehead, and the transformation stopped.
"That didn't go as I expected," muttered the pervert. "Naruto? Are you okay?"
"It was too much chakra all at once," he replied, with first and second-degree burns all over his body.
Seina went down to heal him. It didn't take long because Naruto's metabolism healed him quickly, and Jiraiya had acted fast. In ten minutes, he was back to normal.
"You're going to have to do exercises with Kurama's chakra, and I'll need to gradually adjust the seal," said Jiraiya very seriously. "Otherwise, this could happen again."
Sasuke, seeing that Naruto wouldn't continue training, began practicing modifications of the Chidori. Meanwhile, she resumed her training with the adamantine chains.
"Ugh. I was so excited to start training with Kurama's chakra," Naruto said sadly that night, "and I totally blew it."
"You didn't blow it, Naru. You just didn't have time to do anything. I've spent many months working with Kurama using a much smaller portion of his chakra, and he's always with me. Otherwise, the same thing would've happened to me."
"You really think so?"
"I really do," she comforted him. After all, it was the truth.
Even Sasuke didn't make fun of him, seeing that Naruto was truly disappointed with himself. He just nodded at her words. It didn't take long for him to return to his usual mood when Jiraiya told him they'd try again and gave him more chakra exercises.
The next day, the first Friday of March, the pervert left the magical tent again to do his usual business with informants. Alone and unsupervised, they couldn't continue training with Kurama, so she focused on reviewing all the spells she knew with her new study method. He returned a few days later, but then they had to leave quickly for the next meeting point.
"Don't you ever get tired of running around?" she sighed, walking beside Naruto. "How many years have you been living like this?"
"... I spent many years of my life in Konoha, and they were always rough years. I've been building my informant network for over 30 years, and it's been around 25 years since I stopped living in Konoha regularly."
Seina did the math, frowning. Jiraiya had been her father's teacher. Her father would be 38 now, so that meant the pervert left the village when he was only 13. According to what they knew, her father had graduated from the academy at 10, a year younger than them, and had become a chunin at 11 and a jonin at 13. That meant, logically, Jiraiya had waited for her father to rise as high as possible before disappearing from his life for a while. She glanced sideways at the old pervert, realizing that this meant he had truly cared about her father—and vice versa. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been named godfather, nor would he have accepted the role.
Until her father rose through the ranks, Jiraiya had been an exemplary ninja—both as a ninja and a sensei. Had something else happened after he left the village and before he returned? Judging by how he'd said it, he didn't want her asking more questions, so she let it go.
"We've arrived, brats! I have to leave you for a bit to take care of some things," Jiraiya said a few hours later. He didn't even stay to see the tent go up.
"I don't know how he does it," Naruto said, shaking his head. "I can't imagine spending over 20 years without a proper home, living from hotel to hotel, far from Konoha."
"It's clear he has a trauma just like Tsunade-sama. What do we actually know about him? Very little. We know he's our godfather, what he supposedly does as a spy, that he was our father's sensei, that he fought in several wars... but that's it. If Tsunade-sama self-exiled from Konoha to avoid her memories, how do we know Jiraiya isn't doing the same, using espionage as an excuse to not go back?"
Naruto frowned, realizing it was very possible. Sasuke, meanwhile, was staring into the distance with a thoughtful expression. Suddenly, her brother-in-everything-but-blood spoke.
"Do you really think he's doing something in the nearby village?"
"Why do you ask?"
"Doesn't it seem weird that he goes days without showing signs of life? How long does it take to interrogate or seduce someone?" Sasuke asked aloud. "Plus, he said on the first day not to interfere and to stay within the barriers."
"You think he said that so we wouldn't follow him?" she asked, a bit surprised. "Why? Because he's not really in the village?"
"Given how long he takes to come back and the places we've stopped, I'd say there are weeks when he leaves the Land of Fire. That would explain the delays."
"And why not just tell us where he's going?" Naruto exclaimed, indignant and irritated.
As soon as her brother asked the question that way, she knew why. Jiraiya, as she had already thought several times, was used to doing his own thing. He didn't want to explain where he was going every time, or have to order them not to follow him, or warn them about danger… He was a terrible communicator in some ways. Plus, if Sasuke was right and they'd known from the start, Naruto would have begged to go with him to other countries—bored of the Land of Fire or simply excited to see new places.
Sasuke, looking at Naruto with exasperation, rolled his eyes. Seina had a hunch he'd thought the same thing she had.
"It's just a theory, dobe, stop yelling like a maniac."
Seina, who had Jiraiya's talisman to avoid complications, trained under the watchful eye of one of Naruto's clones. Kurama and she fused again thanks to the now permanently modified seal, doing exercises and practicing ninjutsu. Her claws could slice a tree in half with one swipe. It was like plunging her hand into butter. Her skin became tougher, her ears even sharper. She could even smell things she hadn't before—scent being her least developed sense compared to an animal. Her teeth had also changed, slightly larger and sharper.
"I was expecting you to grow a tail, not going to lie," Sasuke said. He dodged the kunai she threw with a mocking grin. "You're lucky. These modifications are subtle enough for you to stay unnoticed."
Jiraiya took around 10 days to return. Naruto started doubting Sasuke's theory, while she, who couldn't care less, just sighed—realizing that training with Kurama would take forever if the pervert had to be present. So she pulled out more scrolls from Uzushiogakure to speed things up in another area.
"You're advancing fast," Jiraiya noted, examining the flawless barriers she had written. He looked at her over the scroll. "I think I'll start teaching you the next step."
"What is it?"
"How to create your own fuinjutsu and analyse the fuinjutsu of other ninjas."
That's how Jiraiya began explaining how to identify markers in fuinjutsu sequences to later undo them and how to disassemble them. It took her exactly six hours to learn what he was trying to teach, to Naruto's total confusion—and to a lesser extent, Sasuke's.
"Seriously now. How are you doing this?" Jiraiya asked as they ate dinner. "Not even your father, who was a fuinjutsu genius, understood it on the first try."
"That's because I use something similar, but I call them 'runes,'" she admitted. "Runes can only be activated by my powers, but they can remain active indefinitely with sen chakra or natural energy."
"...What?"
Jiraiya's stunned face was worth framing. Fuinjutsu, at least the kind most people knew, didn't work like that. It was activated and maintained with chakra, and when chakra stopped being provided, it deactivated. Even the barriers they set around the clearing, or the ones used by the ANBU escorting the Hokage, had to be fed chakra every so often to stay active.
"How is that possible? Can you teach me how to use them?"
"They wouldn't be much use to you, considering I'd always have to activate them for you in the first place. I taught them to Naruto and Sasuke, but even they are just beginners."
"Why don't we give him the games you made for me?"
"Good idea, Naru."
"You made rune-based games for Naruto so he could learn to use them?" the pervert raised an eyebrow, slightly impressed. "I want to see them."
They gave him the two games she had created for him. Jiraiya, completely ecstatic, even put aside his draft of his erotic book to start playing and learning the runes. Then came the questions, which gave her a tremendous headache.
"Why is this symmetry necessary?"
"Why only 24 characters?"
"Why does the ink affect the final jutsu?"
Etc., etc., etc. Seina tried to explain everything as patiently as possible, but Jiraiya kept comparing it to fuinjutsu without realizing that, although similar, they were completely different arts. Still, Jiraiya was a good student, so she taught him everything he wanted to know. In the end, he could only say one thing:
"Your runes are much more versatile and powerful than fuinjutsu," he declared with a sigh, running a hand through his hair.
"I know, but fuinjutsu is quicker to cast in comparison."
"That's a good thing since each art gives you certain advantages the other doesn't have."
"I know," she reiterated again, "that's why I want to learn fuinjutsu."
"You're on the right path. I'll give you more material. At this rate, in less than three months, you'll have caught up to your father." She shook her head, as if she couldn't believe it. "Minato would be very proud of you."
"Thank you."
"By the way… what would happen if you tattooed runes on yourself?" he asked suddenly. "You said that once they're activated, they stay active, right?"
"Unless I deactivate them manually, yes."
"Then couldn't you tattoo runes? I know Tsunade taught you that seal of hers on your forehead, so I was wondering if you hadn't thought about doing something similar with your powers and runes."
"Hmm… Honestly, I hadn't thought about it," she blinked, completely stunned. But now that Jiraiya had brought it up, she could think of a thousand things she could do with runes.
She touched the seal on her forehead, still invisible. It was the third week of March, so it would still take nine months to fill it completely and become visible like her master's. She couldn't imagine tattooing runes in just a few months. She would have to think about it very carefully, but even so, she knew it could have endless uses. In fact, there had been tribes that tattooed runes in ancient times, but the idea had never truly intrigued her because it was permanent—and dangerous.
"I'll have to think about it," she finally said, temporarily closing the topic.
Runes had to be thoroughly worked out to avoid errors. For example, she could tattoo runes like "sunscreen" so she'd never have to put on sunscreen or enchant her skin again. But that could also mean the sun would never touch her skin, leading to a vitamin D deficiency. Likewise, it could backfire if, say, she tattooed her spy listening spell. Sure, she'd be able to hear from far away—but any loud noise could make her go deaf. Everything had pros and cons.
The rest of March flew by, like an exhale, filled with physical training in the morning, adamantine chains in the afternoon, ninjutsu, and reading new fuinjutsu scrolls.
Then came April, followed by May, and finally Sasuke's birthday started approaching. On July 23rd, he would turn 14, and Seina didn't know what to give him—until Naruto came up to her asking about the letters they were sending to Itachi.
"Why are you interested now? You haven't sent a single note since we started writing to him."
"Because I've seen how much Sasuke wants his brother back," Naruto sighed, scratching his forehead a little awkwardly. "I have you, and you've always been by my side. We've been together our whole lives. Sometimes I've thought about what it would be like if we were in Sasuke's place, but I couldn't imagine it, you know? You wouldn't have killed our clan because you'd have found another way to fix things, and I… I wouldn't have been able to do it. I don't know if that makes me weaker or stronger than Itachi, but I couldn't have done it. So there's no point comparing us to them, because it would never have happened."
"And what's changed now?"
"I realized that, even if I can't compare us, that doesn't mean I can't try to put myself in Sasuke's or Itachi's shoes. And thinking like them, trying to imagine what they feel… I realized Sasuke must be really sad and kind of desperate for his brother to come back. He hides it really well. So well you wouldn't notice, but I know him. And even if we're different, he's still human, and he loves his brother."
At that precise moment, she felt happy—and incredibly proud—because her brother was truly maturing. Sometimes he was still a teenager, a kid, but he was a good person. She couldn't believe how much he'd grown since the three of them climbed that rooftop together.
"I'm proud of you, Naruto. You're only thirteen, but you show more maturity and empathy than many adults," she smiled at him, watching him blush at the compliment. "It makes me happy that you're my brother."
"Thanks, nee-chan."
"Come on, let's write that letter together. Maybe we can convince him to at least show up for an hour so they can talk."
"Yosh! Let's do it!"
And so, they locked themselves in her room that night and began writing the letter they hoped would convince Itachi to give Sasuke a chance.
"How do I start?"
"How about I start?" she said.
"Okay."
"Dear Itachi,
It's me, Seina. I imagine you must be tired of me after all the letters I've sent, but I won't give up. My brother Naruto is here with me, and he's finally decided to write to you even though before he had no idea what to say.
It's early June, and in a month and a few weeks it'll be Sasuke's birthday. I've given him a lot of gifts, but nothing comes to mind that has more value than helping him reunite with you. I know I must sound like a broken record, and you already know that's been my intention from the start, even if I don't say it in every letter I send you. But Itachi… I'm not going to beg you to come back right now. I just want you and Sasuke to see each other, even if just for a moment.
I love Sasuke like a brother, and I know that's what he wants most of all, and the fact that I can't give that to him is killing me. At this point, I think you believe that staying away is what's best for the village and for Sasuke—but it's not. You put yourself at risk by sending that warning because you care about the village, and you care about your brother. And Sasuke is part of the village. How long are you going to insist on staying away if you're innocent, if you love your brother, and if you love the village? Don't you realize that your return is exactly what we need? What Sasuke and the village need?"
"Wait, nee-chan," Naruto cut in, who had been reading beside her. "Let me take over now."
"Here."
"Itachi, I'm Naruto. This is the first time I've written to you, and I hope it's the last. I hope the next time we talk it'll be face to face. I know my sister's been writing to you for months and that she's frustrated because she doesn't think simple letters are enough to help you and Sasuke.
I'm not as smart as she is, but what I do know is that if my sister were exiled for something like this… I'd never stop until she came back to the village with me—or, worst case, I'd leave Konoha to be with her. I know Sasuke feels the same way because I know him, and even if it doesn't always seem like it, we're friends. I know that if he hasn't already run away, it's because he has us, and we promised to bring you back—and I don't like breaking my promises. Seina likes it even less.
I can't really understand what you must feel every day, reading your brother's letters but feeling like you can't come back because of guilt or some other reason. You've been alone for years. Maybe you've felt alone your whole life. But now I'm telling you—you're NOT alone. Got it? Are you going to stay exiled the rest of your life while your brother suffers in Konoha? Are you going to leave him alone in the village that did this to your family? The one we've run from because it's not safe for any of us right now? Are you going to face your fears, even though returning to Konoha to protect your family is harder than staying away? Or are you going to keep being a coward who rejects his little brother just to avoid facing his feelings?
You know what? Honestly, I don't care—because we made Sasuke a promise, and if you don't have the courage to at least meet him, we'll come after you. And I'll want you to tell your little brother, to his face, while looking him in the eyes, that you won't come back and you don't care that he's returning to Konoha where Danzo, the council, and even fucking Orochimaru are after his body. But hey, no big deal, right? That's the best thing you can do for the village (in case you didn't catch it, I was being sarcastic).
We're giving you until his birthday to gather the courage—and the balls—to see your brother again. After that, you know what's next. We'll keep sending you coordinates near wherever we are each week, like always.
Naruto and Seina."
"Wow… I've never sent him anything that aggressive."
"It's about time he knows we won't stop, whether nicely or not, until he rejects Sasuke face to face. I'm sick of him not having the guts to send even one damn letter saying yes or no," Naruto said, brows furrowed in frustration. "We promised Sasuke we'd help him, and if we can't convince Itachi with letters, then it's time to change the plan."
Seina nodded. It was settled. The time for diplomacy was nearing its end. He had exactly 45 days to meet with them—or they'd move on to phase two of the plan.