By the end of April, Uzu's population had already risen to 4,000. It was impressive. Several businesses had opened to support peaceful living: a full market, a furniture store, the shipyard had begun operating, and the government already had dozens of employees, as did the hospital, police station, schools, and library. What was surprising was that people kept arriving to settle there. Everyone, except for a few rare cases that were rejected, seemed thrilled to sign the magical contract. Even if they didn't understand how it worked, they understood that somehow it would force them to follow the constitution and what the average citizen wanted most was to live peacefully. None of them wanted to lose the comforts and rights they were being offered, so they were behaving like good children, accepting the rules without complaint. Especially because the constitution didn't ask for anything out of the ordinary.
The first intruder only took two weeks to attempt sneaking onto the island. As soon as he signed the contract, it turned red and the person collapsed, giving them enough time to be alerted that something strange had happened at the temporary registry office in Yuko. The incident served to confirm that their protections worked, allowed them to interrogate a spy, and let the new citizens witness first-hand that the protections existed, and functioned. Word spread like wildfire.
"Did you hear? Someone tried to sneak in and was caught instantly!" a young girl whispered.
"I know. Mariko won't stop telling every customer about it."
"I thought the contract was just a formality."
"You never know with ninjas."
"Poor bastard," another woman chuckled, not very sympathetically. "I'd love to know what they got out of him in the interrogation."
"I don't really care. You know what this means? No one can hurt us here if we follow the rules," an old man snapped, both pleased and angry. "That's more than any other village has ever offered me, and that's enough. I hope they give that guy what he deserves."
Seina and Itachi interrogated the man in question. He wasn't a ninja. He was a civilian who wanted to travel to the Land of Whirlpools to take advantage of the living conditions without having to change his bad habits. Since what he intended to do was illegal according to the constitution in the contract, he was rejected. They kicked him out so he could go scam someone else far from their land, and that was that.
The first ninja spy didn't try to sign the contract. He tried entering the island by sea. Poor idiots.
"Seina-sama!" a man shouted, bursting into the hospital where she was teaching a large group of people alongside her clones. "Seina-sama. You should come see this."
"What's going on?"
"Some teenagers found burned corpses on a beach to the north."
Seina couldn't help but smile. She said goodbye to her students for the moment, leaving them in her clones' care, though she knew they wouldn't be paying much attention. They were already whispering about what might be happening. She already knew what she was going to find. Through Jiraiya, she had informed Lady Tsunade of the protections, so she knew it wasn't any ninja from the Land of Fire; or the Land of Wind, considering the Hokage would've informed her allies too. That meant the corpses were enemies of Konoha and Uzushiogakure.
Exiting the hospital and following the man, she met up with Itachi and a group of men, identified by their new uniforms as the civil police. They headed toward the beach in question, following the teens. When she reached the shore, she saw the charred corpses, completely lifeless. Judging by the faces of many of the new police officers, some rookies and others veterans, they had never seen anything like it. They accompanied her and Itachi to where the bodies were to watch them examine them.
"From Kumo."
"As expected," she clicked her tongue, without compassion. "Looks like a sabotage squad."
She knew by the tools in the bag. They were designed to discreetly destroy vital infrastructure like water, electricity, etc.
"You're saying these bodies belong to ninjas?" one of the civilians asked.
"Look at their headbands, Nobu," another older man pointed out. "Even if I don't recognize it, it's clearly a ninja band."
"This symbol is from Kumogakure."
"But why would they try to sabotage us?"
"Because we're allied with the Land of Fire and we're in a strategic location between the Land of Fire and the Land of Water. If we allied with the Land of Water, we'd control the entire south," she explained briefly. It wasn't a secret, after all. "They already destroyed us once for the same reason. I knew it would happen. That's why I set up all kinds of protections and why you all signed the contract. No intruders arriving by boat, sea, or air. Not to mention the countless protections inside the island. Even if they managed to pass my barriers, they'd be fried the moment they stepped into Uzu."
"Better get rid of the bodies," Itachi said casually, with a neutral expression. "You could give them to your sharks."
"Nah. Too crispy."
"...Shinobi," someone whispered to another, face pale and slightly green.
She made the bodies vanish completely. She didn't even keep the tools, just in case. Even if Kumo knew they had been killed, they wouldn't be able to cause trouble since it was an enemy sabotage squad. It would be a different matter if a team from an allied country got curious and tried to sneak into Uzushiogakure to spy, even with good intentions. In that case, explanations would be necessary.
The case of the enemy team was dropped, except that everyone found out and understood how the island's protections worked. Interestingly, few people were alarmed, since they understood, at least superficially, how the protections worked and thought it was perfect that they protected them. Still, Seina and the others knew this was only the beginning.
By mid-May, the population had doubled, and two more teams had tried to enter illegally, both also found burned. Anyone with a brain could see it was impossible to access the island. Especially when no team ever returned home alive or dead. It was clear A wasn't very bright.
With the village thriving, they were able to relax a bit and began searching for other villages to do business with. Just as she had hoped, they found a buyer for the pearls and managed to negotiate several contracts to sell food in the Land of Fire, the Land of Waterfalls, and the Land of the Sea. After all, those were the regions closest to Uzushiogakure.
"I'm thinking of something we could negotiate with Suna," she said one afternoon, when she had all her brothers gathered in the mansion.
"What is it?"
"What the Land of Wind lacks is water. It's a very scarce and precious resource. Even though they have some desalination plants along the coast, the capital is far from them, and the Land of Wind has a vast territory to supply."
"In the north they have the Land of Rocks, allied with the Land of Earth, and to the east is the Land of Rain and the Land of Rivers, both unaffiliated," Itachi said, looking at the map she'd laid on the table. "That means the Land of Wind has no access to water from nearby nations."
"Exactly. What we can do is offer them unlimited water wells, using my abilities, in exchange for a few things."
"Like what?"
"That's the question. What can we ask from Suna?"
"Minerals," Itachi replied. "Along with the Land of Earth, they have the most mines with gems and minerals. If we could find master jewellers to craft high-quality jewellery, we could sell it at high prices to a small elite and fill our coffers with minimal effort. Nobles don't care where their jewellery comes from. If they like it, they'll buy it."
"Sounds good to me," Sasuke nodded. Then he looked at her. "Though you'd have to go deep into the Land of Wind to place those water tanks."
"I'll go in disguise, obviously."
"I'll go with you," Itachi interjected. "At least a couple of us have to stay here and in Yuko to supervise the new ships and Uzu's government. You can't go with Naruto or Sasuke since they're also high-risk alone. That means I'm the only one who can go with you."
Naruto didn't look pleased, but he knew Itachi was right. Still, they hadn't accepted the offer yet. No point in worrying about a danger that might not come. She wrote a letter to Gaara. In it, she detailed what she was offering, but didn't mention what she wanted in return. She knew they'd have to discuss that in person, so she started preparing a magical disguise to keep Itachi from being identified.
It was mid-May, so she began thinking about what to gift Itachi. She'd give him an invisibility bracelet and a magical tent, so he could sleep safely if he was ever alone in the wilderness. It wasn't a very personal gift, but she knew Itachi would appreciate it, especially since he was the only one among them who didn't have something like that.
Jiraiya returned from his trip to the Land of Fire a few days later.
"I'm afraid I bring bad news," he told them that very night, as they all sat down to dinner.
"What is it?"
"It seems Utakata disappeared a couple of weeks ago."
"…"
A tense and fragile silence fell when they realized he might be dead. Naruto and she exchanged weighted glances. If it was true, it meant only three bijuu remained to be extracted: Gaara, the jinchuriki from Kumo, and themselves. She avoided sighing. Utakata had been alone, exiled from his country, and had managed to distract Akatsuki longer than expected. It was a shame he hadn't returned to Kiri, where he would've been more protected, but she understood why he didn't want to go back after his master betrayed him and Utakata killed him.
"Well. At least he escaped for a while," she said, when no one else spoke.
"Are you sure you still want to go to Suna, after all this?" Jiraiya asked.
"Of course. We can escape easily if we need to, and it's a huge business opportunity."
"Alright, but be careful."
Gaara's letter arrived a week later. Just as she expected, he agreed to meet her to talk about business. Since her friend knew she could use the hiraishin, he gave her a date just a few days away in the letter, knowing she'd arrive without trouble despite living in Uzushiogakure.
"If you see anything strange, come back," Sasuke asked them, like a worried mother.
"The teme is right."
"I know, I know... We've got our portkeys ready and disguises too."
"Shall we go?" asked Itachi, activating his new disguise bracelet.
"Yes."
She took his hand. She molded her chakra and in the next instant, they appeared near the entrance canyon to Suna.
"It's impressive how far you can travel with a jutsu designed for close combat," Itachi murmured, sounding like a completely different man.
"I won't deny the hiraishin is incredible. Maybe even more than my teleportation ability."
"The good thing is, each technique covers the other's weaknesses. You're lucky."
They walked in silence for about 10 minutes, grateful for their spells against the searing heat. Living in the desert definitely wasn't easy. They approached the canyon at a civilian's pace, giving the ninja time to check they weren't a threat.
"Halt," called one. "Who goes there?"
"I'm Seina Uzumaki, and this is my advisor, Ichiro. I have the Kazekage's letter right here."
She handed over the documentation Gaara had sent, letting them examine it to confirm it wasn't fake, and then they were allowed inside. It was early morning, so people were hurrying back and forth, avoiding staying under the scorching May sun, which in Suna already felt like August in Konoha. They walked to the Kazekage's building, where a girl, likely an undercover ANBU, greeted them.
"Please wait a moment. I'll notify Gaara-sama."
They waited a couple of minutes, standing under the refreshing air conditioning. The secretary/receptionist or whatever she was smiled when she saw them directly beneath the airflow. Itachi, with a neutral face, looked like he was there by accident, but Seina knew he was enjoying the chill too. His poker face was so good, which is why they didn't play cards with him.
"You may enter, Gaara-sama is expecting you."
As soon as she stepped into Gaara's office and saw him in the Kazekage's robes, she had to suppress a laugh. Who the hell designed Kage uniforms? Gaara looked up from some papers on his desk. The moment he saw her, he smiled in a relaxed way and stood up.
"Seina, it's been a long time."
"Gaara-sama," she bowed to him with a smile.
"Please, call me Gaara."
He took two steps toward her and hugged her. She was pretty surprised, considering that when she met him, he acted like a psychopath. Fortunately, it seemed becoming Kazekage had done him good. It felt like Gaara had finally found inner peace. She returned the hug, squeezing him tightly before letting go.
"I'd tell you that robe suits you, but I'd be lying."
Gaara laughed out loud, something she had never heard before. "This robe was designed to look bad on everyone, I'm afraid."
She noticed that beneath the open white robe, he wore a dark red uniform with long black pants that covered him completely. He also had on a grey Suna jonin vest with silver belts. His gourd leaned against a wall, the same one as always. Gaara, however, had changed a lot. He was as tall as Naruto, taller than her by a head. His hair, slightly longer than last time, fell attractively over his pale face and aquamarine eyes.
"Gaara, can we talk for a moment without your ninja listening in?" she asked directly.
Her friend blinked, but nodded after a couple of seconds. He gestured with his hand, likely to leave them alone. She, however, raised a magical barrier without anyone noticing.
"What do you want to talk about?"
"First of all, Gaara, this is Itachi."
"I thought his name was Ichiro," he said with a hint of amusement, leaning against his desk with crossed arms. "Why all the secrecy?"
"Because he's Itachi Uchiha."
Gaara looked intently at Itachi, still in disguise, and slowly nodded.
"I appreciate you telling me. I imagine if he's with you, there's something I don't know, right?"
"My clan was planning a coup and Danzo, one of the Third Hokage's advisors, ordered me to eliminate them in exchange for Sasuke's life," Itachi explained briefly. "If I hadn't done it, he would've found another way."
"Tsunade-sama knows. It's a very long story," she sighed, "but Itachi is innocent, and he will return to Konoha with us one way or another."
Gaara smiled slightly at that, as if recalling something.
"I'm sure he will. Between you and Naruto, there's no way justice won't be served, especially being Sasuke's older brother."
"I assure you, Kazekage-sama, I am no threat to Suna. Even less so when you're a friend of Seina."
Gaara raised an eyebrow in her direction but said nothing more.
"Why don't we talk business?" she said, deactivating the barrier.
"Alright. The council is ready to negotiate. Follow me."
He led them to a much larger room with a round table. It didn't take long for everyone to arrive and sit in their places. Gaara sat in an ordinary seat directly across from her. Itachi sat to her right, and the rest, about nine, were Gaara's advisors.
"Let's begin the meeting," said one of them, introducing everyone. "We are here to negotiate a contract between Seina Uzumaki, leader of the Uzumaki clan, and Sunagakure. What is the Uzumaki clan offering?"
"We're offering a negotiable number of water tanks, with unlimited water, placed wherever you choose."
"Unlimited water?" asked one, clearly sceptical. "How is that possible?"
Seina pulled out a canteen she had prepared beforehand. She tossed it to the man.
"Why don't you try emptying it?" she replied with a mischievous smile.
The man tried, but no matter how many minutes passed, the water kept pouring out of the container. Eventually, he gave up. They were ignored for a few minutes while the council marvelled at the canteen, analysing it with chakra and visually, to no avail. Gaara, meanwhile, raised a very thin brow at her again, clearly amused.
"What does the Uzumaki clan want in exchange?" asked the Kazekage, steering the meeting back on track.
"Minerals and gems."
After stating their demand, they negotiated for quite some time. She could solve their biggest problem in one go, so they were very interested in negotiating with her, and with Itachi, to ensure they wouldn't go anywhere. She also hinted that the number of tanks was negotiable, which gave them room to work. After nearly two hours, they finalized the contract, satisfying both sides.
"Agreed. The final contract reads as follows: the Uzumaki clan will provide Sunagakure with 10 initial-capacity tanks of 20,000 litres, with unlimited water, with four outlets allowing a maximum flow of 20 liters per minute, per outlet. The water will be cooled to 50C and be potable. The tanks will be made of stainless steel," read one of the advisors, Joseki. "Sunagakure will provide the Uzumaki clan with approximately 500 kilograms of minerals, listed with exact quantities and types, monthly, indefinitely. The contract may be renegotiated annually if either party explicitly requests it one month before the year's end. Do you accept this contract?"
Seina looked at Itachi, who nodded. Five hundred kilograms of minerals and precious gems was a lot, considering they were starting from nothing. If it turned out to be insufficient, they could renegotiate the quantity the following year.
"I accept this contract on behalf of the Uzumaki clan."
"Kazekage-sama?"
"I accept this contract on behalf of Sunagakure."
"You may review the contract one last time before signing."
Gaara and she agreed to read what was written before signing with a pen. She had to suppress a smile when she realized this was the first business deal for the Land of Whirlpools, for the Uzumaki clan. Gaara and she shook hands in front of everyone before the official atmosphere broke and the back-patting began. Seina had to endure a bit more small talk before her friend rescued her from his council.
"Come. I'm inviting you to lunch at my house. That way we can talk in private."
They followed him to his private residence, where they found Kankuro and Temari cooking. When they saw her, they smiled and greeted her with obvious surprise. Apparently, Gaara hadn't told them anything about the potential deal. She listened as he explained what had just happened, watching their expressions shift between curiosity and astonishment.
"You have no idea what this means for Suna," said Temari, shaking her head. "Until now we were importing a lot of food from the Land of Rivers and the Land of Stone, but since they're not our allies for several reasons, the prices were outrageous. Now we'll be able to grow a lot of food ourselves, and that money we were spending on imports can go toward other things in the village."
"It's a shame Uzushiogakure isn't ready yet to export that much food," said Itachi, "because we could've negotiated that too."
"Maybe in a year," she shrugged.
"Maybe."
"How are Naruto and Sasuke?" asked Gaara. "I assume they're in Uzu right now."
"That's right. They're handling village affairs. People keep moving in. At first, I thought it'd take us much longer to have a functioning village with regular commerce, but only a few weeks have passed and, even though it's still pretty empty, it's a proper village already."
"The moment we heard what you were doing, I couldn't stop laughing," Kankuro admitted. "I knew it had to be you and your brother. You're both absolutely insane."
"Thanks," she chuckled. "The funny thing is, we only rebuilt Uzushiogakure so the Uzumaki clan would have trade leverage with the clans of Konoha and now look at us."
"But... you are going back to Konoha, right?"
"With Seina's powers she can be there in the blink of an eye," Gaara correctly assumed. "So she doesn't need to live in Uzu to run her business."
"Exactly. Plus, we're setting up a government and administrative bodies to take care of the things we're currently overseeing. In a few months, maybe a year, it'll run on its own."
"I see. So you'll get the profits without needing to be present."
"That's the plan."
She chatted with all of them a bit longer. Mostly with Gaara, to whom she explained her training journey with Kurama. Shukaku, unlike Kurama, wasn't very cooperative with Gaara, but at least now he could rest more easily without losing control. She also talked about Naruto, Sasuke, and Uzu. Gaara, in turn, spoke about a girl named Matsuri whom he had started training. They also talked about what it was like being a village leader, especially at such a young age, how the villagers' perception had changed after three tough years of work and redemption...
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Itachi, still disguised, talking with Kankuro and Temari about what he had seen during his "travels." She had to admit that when he wanted to, he could be very charming and pleasant, even though she knew the last thing he wanted right now was to pretend he wasn't socially exhausted.
"By the way, Seina," Gaara began with a peculiar glint in his eye, "a rumour reached my ears."
"Rumour? About what?"
"They told me about a blonde girl wielding a wakizashi, who slaughtered around thirty men like it was nothing in an underground fight in Sora-ku."
Seina choked on her water at that. That was all Gaara needed to start smiling. Damn Kisame. She never should've listened to him. She thought no one would talk about it, after all, those fights were common. She should have realized that being a woman, and only around 14–15 years old, would've drawn a lot of attention.
"I knew it was you! What were you doing in Sora-ku? That's the biggest black market in the south."
"We were just visiting one of Sasuke's businesses," she said defensively, not really sure why. "Besides, how do you even know about that?"
"Some of my people swing by there now and then."
"Ugh. Well, it's not like my face isn't in a bingo book," she sighed.
Gaara let out a chuckle at that. Kankuro turned around, having caught that last part.
"That was the first time I ever heard Gaara laugh," Kankuro confessed, still a bit stunned. "Anyone else would've been worried that their friend appeared in a bingo book, but not him."
"It was funny because I thought I'd show up in that book before Seina," the Kazekage explained. "Ninety percent of the time, Seina looks like she's never broken a plate in her life—and just look at her."
"On that, I'll agree with you."