Chiyo quickly told them about her grandson's abilities, the poisons she knew he used, the techniques he had trained, the puppets he had built… Even so, Seina knew the information was incomplete. Sasori had left the village a long time ago. Whatever his grandmother knew must have been far less than what he had learned away from his country. In any case, incomplete information was better than none.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. You know what to do."
She watched as her clones vanished, using the hiraishin of her summoned creatures patiently waiting on each seal. Once they were all in position, she nodded at Kakashi, who nodded back toward her brothers. Naruto and Sasuke leaped over the rocky hill, waiting for the signal. Seina took the opportunity to create a kind of magical clone of Gaara, shaping it from a fallen branch, and summoned a few of her smaller insects.
"On three…" he said. She sent a signal to her creatures to start the countdown. "One, two, three."
They broke the seal at the same time. Through her multiple eyes, she saw it dissolve and a faceless golem appeared, gradually taking on its own face.
"It looks like there was a trap," she reported. "But nothing important."
She dispelled all her clones, watching the trap stand still without an opponent. She let out a small laugh when she saw the seal break so easily before collapsing on its own. She dismissed all her magical creatures just as Kakashi destroyed the wall with an Earth-style jutsu. When the stone opened a hole, she moved forward over the river, quickly forming the kanji Kisame had taught her so many months ago.
"Suiton: Bakusui Shōha."
She molded a great amount of water and directed it into the cave. A wave burst from her mouth and devoured everything in its path like a tsunami. She saw her insects glide over the water while Kakashi and Chiyo guarded her back. Soon she reached the underground chamber they had been using, taking them all by surprise. Seina, who had been waiting for this moment, focused all her attention on what she was seeing through the eyes of her spider and was surprised.
There was a massive, eerie statue rising from the dirt floor: half a torso with open hands where each finger seemed to be occupied by members of Akatsuki, and its head was wrapped with a kind of blindfold that covered its eyes but left its mouth open. From that mouth, nine chakra tendrils stretched toward Gaara, who was lying on the ground.
The wave had interfered with the sealing, because eight of the ten projections vanished with startled cries. She was sure the water had washed away some seals they were using to connect remotely to the statue, but it was fascinating enough to mentally note down before refocusing on what was happening.
One of the remaining figures, shielding his face from the intense whirlpools of water, was Sasori. His appearance matched Chiyo's description. The other was none other than the masked man who had attacked her parents. Where was the plant-like one? She took advantage of the moment, seeing that they were more concerned about avoiding being smashed against the rocks than watching Gaara, to save her friend. She formed the seal and swapped bodies. Just before the statue vanished in a whirl of bubbles, she noticed with unease that something behind the blindfold over its eyes moved.
"Good. It went as we planned. I'll signal the others," said Kakashi as Gaara appeared before them, unconscious, soaked, and deathly pale.
She was about to speak, leaning over Gaara to heal him, when she felt a gaze on her neck. A chill ran down her spine, whatever was spying on them had managed to crawl that close without her noticing. She discreetly scanned the area with her aura spell but saw nothing. Whatever it was, it was out of range. Kakashi noticed the shift in her emotions and immediately raised his headband, activating his sharingan.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."
Her clone grabbed Gaara and used the hiraishin to send him safely back to Konoha. There, her teacher could heal the Kazekage, and she could focus on the new threat. She heard curses as the rock collapsed on Akatsuki's heads thanks to her brothers. She'd been so focused she barely noticed the explosions and the rumble of stone cracking ahead.
"Konoha's team got here sooner than expected."
"You said they'd take longer!" barked a rough voice.
"Heh… Doesn't matter now," said the other one, with a childish tone that made her hair stand on end.
"Useless fool," muttered the other under his breath.
She heard Naruto using a wind jutsu to clear the dust and reveal the enemies hidden in the smoke. Kakashi, Chiyo, and she jumped over the fallen entrance, stepping through the puddles left by her water jutsu. The statue she'd seen was gone, likely because not all the Akatsuki were present to maintain it. Only the puppeteer, the masked man, and their spy remained; the plant-like one who had helped kidnap Gaara with Sasori.
"Sasori…" said Chiyo when the Akatsuki stopped talking and turned toward them. "It's been a long time."
"Grandma."
"Sasori? Tobi didn't know that was your name!"
"…Shut up, idiot," Sasori snapped, glancing at him from within what appeared to be a puppet.
"I see Hiruko has changed quite a bit since the last time."
"Tobi's leaving. Tobi has better things to do than waste time at a friends' reunion."
The masked man, still under his hood, waved goodbye like a child and lunged toward the fake Gaara. Seina threw an adamantine chain at the body as Naruto and Sasuke deflected Tobi's attack with a Rasengan shuriken and a Chidori spear.
"Not so fast, cowboy," she said, grabbing the body in her arms and fleeing, spurred by her husband's emotional push.
"Hey! Tobi won't let you take our new friend!"
Seina felt a mental tingle at his words, something always happened when things didn't quite add up. It was a strange ability that had helped her many times at Hogwarts and later as an Auror. She didn't yet know what she was missing, but she would find out. Refocusing on the battle, she dashed away from the collapsed cave, propelled by her chains, running with the Akatsuki in pursuit, and behind him, Naruto and Sasuke.
"Catch me if you can!" she taunted without looking back. She knew exactly what was going on thanks to her brothers.
The stranger took it seriously, appearing in front of her using a jutsu she had only seen before in Kurama's memories. A swirling vortex in the air warned her just in time to dodge before he could stab her with a kunai. It was Kamui, the jutsu Itachi had warned them about. She vanished with hiraishin but, unfortunately, landed in a trap as soon as she appeared on her new sealed stone. She nearly cried out, almost dropping Gaara's body, but quickly recovered.
She teleported away with her magic before the massive carnivorous plants could swallow her whole. Her heartbeat slowed as she burned away a bit of vine clinging to her vest. She saw Gaara's supposed body scratched just as the remaining enemy appeared.
"You must be the one who was spying on us," she said, frowning and hoisting Gaara over her shoulder like a sack.
"Very clever! Interesting that you sensed us," said the white and black halves respectively.
Seina didn't know what she was facing, but it was clearly not a normal man, perhaps not even human. She bit her tongue, realizing that her irritation had made her reveal more than necessary. Hearing fighting nearby, she knew her brothers were facing Tobi, while she seemed stuck in a stalemate.
"Who are you, and what are you?"
"Our name is Zetsu, hehe, and we are—shut up, idiot," snapped the other half. Seina raised an eyebrow. "Tobi is very disappointed about losing his new friend, so hand over the Jinchūriki and let's end this. But why would we want him if he's fa—mmph! Didn't I tell you to shut up?"
Seina watched them argue within the same body. It seemed the black half had some control over the white one, but she still didn't understand what was going on. Then, she realized what the white side had almost said and instantly teleported toward her brothers, alarmed. They had been distracting her. She dispelled the fake body just as she intercepted Tobi's new Kamui, this one aimed at Naruto, who was being sucked into a vortex.
"Crucio!"
A red bolt shot from her hand, striking Tobi, who screamed and vanished again to escape both her curse and Sasuke's Chidori spear. Naruto hit the ground, gasping.
"He got away," Sasuke growled, irritated. Then he looked at Naruto. "You okay, dobe?"
"What the hell was that? Why'd you almost get caught!?"
"There was no other way to get a clear shot," her twin said, standing as if nothing had happened. Seina smacked both their heads. "Hey!"
"Why me too? It was Naruto's idea!"
"For not stopping him," she scolded, half annoyed, half amused at seeing them rub their heads like two spoiled kids.
"Where is he now?"
They searched around the cave perimeter, where Kakashi and Chiyo were still fighting, but found nothing. They were gone. Not surprising, since the white Zetsu had basically admitted they'd been spying on them and knew Gaara was a fake body. He had also revealed too much by confirming they were the ones watching. No doubt they had seen her create the clone and send the real Gaara away.
"Let's go back to Kakashi and Chiyo," she finally said, seeing they were alone.
"I'll leave a few clones around, just in case."
"Good thinking, dobe. I'm almost impressed."
"…Teme!"
They jumped over the rubble, seeing Kakashi supporting Chiyo, who had summoned puppets dressed as civilians from Suna, a dark-haired woman and a red-haired man. Both had been destroyed by dark sand. The previous puppet, where Sasori had been hiding, was also in pieces. As they took in the scene, they needed a moment to process what they were seeing.
"How is that possible?" Naruto whispered. "H-he's a puppet!"
"Tsk… crazy bastard," Sasuke muttered.
Seina nodded in agreement.
"Don't interfere!" Chiyo pleaded. "Kakashi, you should fall back too!"
"I won't let you run away!" Sasori shouted, his eyes wild, launching a metal tail at Chiyo.
"Old woman!" Naruto yelled, jumping forward without getting in the way.
Kakashi was faster—she hadn't even seen him use that technique before. It was Kamui. It surprised her to see it. While it was true Kakashi had mentioned training his sharingan using Itachi's information, she hadn't connected the dots when he spoke of his new teleportation jutsu. The mental tingling returned as she watched her husband save the old woman from her grandson.
"Is she okay?"
"Yes."
"Oh no! What do you think you're doing, attacking your own grandmother!?" Naruto shouted, using Kurama's chakra-enhanced speed to grab the metal tail just as Sasori was distracted by Kakashi's Kamui.
Sasuke and Seina saw Sasori's shocked expression as Naruto used brute strength to swing him through the air like a lasso. Seina had to suppress a laugh at the humiliated look on the criminal's face. Without hesitation, Naruto smashed him with a giant Rasengan, sending him flying and shattering him.
"Ha! Take that! It's over, old lady!"
"He's reforming!" Sasuke shouted, noticing with his new sharingan before the others.
"Let's finish this."
She used hiraishin to appear beside her brother, who stood near Sasori's broken puppet, and burned it with fiendfyre. They heard Sasori's screams for only a few seconds before he perished for good. She turned to the others. Kakashi was unharmed, while Chiyo bore only a few scratches.
"Are you all right?" she asked the elder.
"Kakashi gave me an antidote," Chiyo nodded in his direction. "Excellent work. You saved my life."
Seina nodded as well, considering the matter closed. She glanced sideways as Chiyo approached the ashes of her grandson. Seina felt no guilt for destroying him, if she hadn't done it, Naruto would have. There had been no other choice. Still, a small part of her pitied Chiyo. It had been her grandson, after all.
She walked toward her husband, who smiled at her after a quick analytical glance up and down, focusing on the plant residue staining her vest. Realizing she was still covered in that idiot's remains, she cleaned her clothes with a snap of her fingers.
"What happened to your vest?"
"I'll tell you later."
"What about the others?"
"They got away," Sasuke clicked his tongue, annoyed. "That Tobi guy is like a rat—slippery as hell."
"And the plant one, Zetsu, probably escaped when I left him alone," she sighed. "Fortunately, whatever they were planning didn't work."
"We'll talk later," Kakashi repeated, watching as Chiyo left her grandson's ashes behind. "Chiyo-sama. We should head back."
"What about the Kazekage?"
"He's fine. I sent him to Konoha, to Tsunade-sama. He was alive, so he should wake soon."
"We'll return to Suna to give them the good news," Kakashi said, sheathing his weapons and drinking some water. "They'll probably want to send an escort to Konoha."
She allowed them to grab her by the arms, and they vanished from there. They landed on her reliable stone near the main gate. Chiyo seemed somewhat surprised before regaining her composure, while the chunin at the entrance let them through. The cliffside had been completely cleared and reinforced with new shinobi, who allowed them to pass but kept a sharp eye on them. Kankuro appeared quickly, accompanied by Baki, a couple of elder advisors, and several jonin who were likely ANBU escorts for the Kazekage.
"So?"
"Where's Gaara?!" Kankuro asked, far less restrained than his teacher.
"He's in Konoha. I sent him away during the fight, for his own safety. He's alive."
She saw everyone exhale in relief at the words. Baki seemed to lose some of his stiff posture, while Kankuro sat back down on the steps of the Kazekage's mansion, where they had been waiting, now too weak to stand after hearing the good news.
"We knew you'd probably want to personally escort Gaara-sama, so we came here first," Kakashi explained. The Suna shinobi nodded before looking at one another. "We can depart as soon as you're ready."
"Perfect. I'm coming with you," Kankuro said without hesitation.
"Me too."
They let them decide among themselves while Chiyo said her farewells.
"This is no longer my concern. I can finally rest, knowing the Kazekage is alive, even if thanks to Tsunade, and that Sasori won't harm anyone else again."
And with that, she turned and disappeared into Suna's hot streets. Seina watched her leave, noting her tired, almost sorrowful gait, and wondered if they would ever see each other again. Sasori had done much harm, but Chiyo had sealed Shukaku inside Gaara. She could have refused but she hadn't. Chiyo had many sins to atone for, for even the old must take responsibility for their actions.
"Shall we go?" Kankuro interrupted her thoughts impatiently.
"Yes. Are we all set?"
"Yes."
She allowed them to grab her arms again, and they vanished to Konoha. The arrival took only a few minutes. It didn't take long for them to reach the hospital either, and soon Kankuro and Baki were allowed into the private room, surrounded by ANBU guards, where the Kazekage rested. Her team used the moment to get a quick medical check-up, a brief one since they were all unharmed, and then presented themselves at the Hokage Tower, where Tsunade hadn't yet returned.
They sat in the chairs, watching night fall completely, and ate a few energy bars to hold them over until they could return home. About twenty minutes later, the Hokage entered, accompanied by Baki.
"Come in, Team 7," she said, sitting down and leaving them standing. She sighed. "Gaara is stable. He regained consciousness shortly after arriving in Konoha and is now resting."
"What happened to Shukaku?" her twin brother asked after sighing in relief.
"He's still sealed inside Gaara. Whatever they were doing, they couldn't extract him completely in such a short time. Though Gaara believes they managed to seal away a small part of the bijuu, or so he says."
Seina blinked. Could they do that? Though… now that she thought about it… she herself had half of Kurama, and that half retained the same mental faculties as its complete original. Was it possible that there could be multiple entities of the same bijuu with different chakra proportions but identical minds and abilities?
"I don't see why not," said Kurama, who had remained silent during the entire battle, analysing Akatsuki's actions safely from within her.
"Doesn't that seem strange? If I were split in two, I wouldn't be the same person."
"For starters, you're human. I'm not. I'm a construct of infinite chakra with a unique set of qualities and abilities derived from my nature."
"And what does that mean? Even you have a finite amount of chakra, no matter how vast your reserves are or how limitless you seem."
"Seina… Didn't I ever tell you I can regenerate? While I'd need some help to come back from nothing—something my father could do—it's possible."
"What? How?"
"I'm natural chakra. I have no end, even if I have a finite form. All this time, within you, I've been regenerating. I didn't need external help because I already had a foundation: my yin half. The same will happen to Shukaku. After all, what is infinity minus 'a small part'?"
"It's still infinity…"
Seina avoided showing her astonishment and concern. If what Kurama said was true, and it made perfect sense, then the "small portion" of chakra stolen from Gaara's Shukaku was also infinite. Which meant that, even though the bijuu hadn't been fully extracted, that fragment counted as Shukaku's entire chakra. Which, in turn, meant Akatsuki had effectively removed one more jinchuriki from their plan. This was worse than expected. She only hoped those Akatsuki idiots hadn't realized it.
She tuned back into the conversation just as Sasuke noticed her sudden distraction. She felt Naruto and Sasuke's curiosity about what she was thinking, and even Kakashi, who appeared to be inattentive, was subtly focusing part of his senses on her.
"…tonight. Seina will return you to Suna tomorrow morning, if there are no objections."
Baki nodded, bowing slightly, and left the office toward the hospital. They remained for a while longer, giving Tsunade a detailed report of everything that had happened. Seina spoke only when necessary; all she wanted was to go home, shower, eat, and think.
"Finally," Naruto stretched once they left nearly forty minutes later. "I'm starving."
"Strangely enough, I agree with Naruto."
Kakashi chuckled at Sasuke's sarcastic remark as they walked toward the Hatake compound. Then he glanced sideways at Seina. She blinked, realizing she was worrying him more than she should, and leaned against his chest as they walked down the street. The cool breeze cleared her head. Worrying alone wouldn't help, she couldn't solve this by snapping her fingers.
As soon as they crossed the clan lands, filled with magical barriers, fuinjutsu, and traps, she couldn't help but let out a deep sigh of relief.
"Why don't we take a shower and have dinner together?" Kakashi suggested, knowing full well they wouldn't let the matter rest otherwise.
"See you in fifteen minutes."
"Make it thirty!" she exclaimed, entering her house with her husband.
"On a scale of one to ten, ten being the highest—how worried should I be?"
Seina looked at Kakashi, thinking seriously, which ironically only worried him more.
"Nine."
She went into the shower, undressing and vanishing her clothes into the laundry basket, stepping under the large enchanted rainfall. Kakashi followed silently, wrapping his arms around her as the water cascaded over them. She buried her face against his muscular chest and held him tightly. He didn't try to comfort her with empty words or tell her everything would be fine. They were shinobi, they knew better than anyone how easily things could go wrong.
A while later, they emerged in pyjamas and headed to the dining room. Naruto and Sasuke arrived a couple of minutes later, hair damp, also in pyjamas.
"Come in. We're heating up some bentos."
"Isn't Itachi here?"
"No. Seems he's still on a mission."
"It would've been nice to ask him a few things about Akatsuki," she muttered.
"So? What's going on?" Naruto cut in, as impatient as ever. "You almost passed out back in Granny's office."
"I had a talk with Kurama about Shukaku's sealing. In Akatsuki's cave, there was a huge statue, as you saw," she gestured to her brothers, then to her husband. Raising her hand, she projected the memory into the air so he could see without her having to implant it. "It seemed to be absorbing Shukaku's chakra with the help of those ten people and a seal."
They all watched the memory carefully, from the moment her spider entered the cave until she vanished, when the wave had swept them away by surprise, interrupting the jutsu.
"The thing is, Gaara's alive, but according to him, they took a portion of the bijuu's chakra. So I started thinking about my yin half and Naruto's. Both halves are 'halves' of the whole, yet they each function independently. Kurama told me something I didn't know. Apparently, bijuu, being beings of natural chakra, can regenerate which makes sense, since that's what happens in nature. He also reminded me of something I've overlooked too much: bijuu are beings of infinite chakra. They are because they are natural chakra."
The three men reflected on her words in silence, brows furrowed. Finally, Naruto spoke, somewhat puzzled.
"And what does all that have to do with Akatsuki?"
"In Kurama's own words… What's the result of subtracting a small part from infinity?"
"Infinity," Kakashi and Sasuke replied in unison.
"What? I don't get it."
"Dobe, mathematically speaking, subtracting, say, ten from infinity still leaves infinity. Think of it another way, if you had an immeasurable fortune of gold, how much would your fortune change if someone stole ten ryō from you?"
"…It'd still be infinite."
"Exactly," she said, steering the discussion back on track. "Which means the portion stolen from Shukaku is, theoretically, infinite. And if it isn't now, the bijuu's regenerative ability will make it so, creating a second entity separate from the original—who's still inside Gaara."
"Which means Akatsuki doesn't even need to capture the bijuu," her husband concluded, frowning slightly. "If they recover some relic infused with their chakra, that alone could be enough. Given the regenerative nature of bijuu chakra, those relics would only grow stronger over time…"
"But that means they could carry out their plan much sooner without us realizing it!"
"If they knew, yes."
"…"
"Fortunately, it seems they haven't realized yet," Kakashi reassured them. "We should speak with Tsunade-sama and try to secure any relic containing Kurama's or the other bijuu's chakra before Akatsuki gets to them."
"And if getting those relics just draws Akatsuki's attention?" Sasuke wondered aloud. "There might be relics we don't even know exist. How can we be sure they won't fall into their hands if we don't know they're out there?"
"…There's nothing we can do right now. We should rest. Tomorrow's another day."
And that's what they did.