The Mad Sage Of Uzushio, A Naruto Fan Fiction:
Chapter #9: A Picnic With The Uchihas
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Chapter 9
A Picnic With The Uchihas
With A Private Performance From A Mad Magician
The star dust settles and the twinkle fades back to ordinary light, as Shintaro releases his genjutsu, and the reality of Naruto’s living room and it’s occupants fades back into the apparent solid flesh.
Shintaro:
Well… What do think so far?… Still think I’m a Baca Sennin… like my daughter does?…
Sasuke:
Now I know you are… Now I think… I understand your daughter completely… You are certifiably… Baca Sennin…
Shintaro:
I understand my daughter completely as well Sasuke… I wouldn’t say my daughter was necessarily wrong grandson… just difficult… And she has her reasons… Eh… Naruto… Back to training… no more breaks… blindfold back on… back into sage mode…
Naruto:
Hai!…. Hai!… Wakata!… Ya Know!… and remain in sage mode as continuously as possible… But Ya know… I can’t just stay perfectly still all the time… I gotta move about and do things ya know…
Shintaro:
All sorts of jutsu can be performed without moving… including shikigami… various wind style techniques… as well as the Medusa… various forms of genjutsu… the Mind Transference jutsu… I don’t think you’ve ever really considered the possibilities before… You may not have the talent for all of these… But I’m sure we can find something for you to learn… And… Strictly speaking… strict stillness… is not strictly required… It’s just that doing it while still moving… is just really difficult… In the Uzumaki tradition… we train to do it while moving… although very very slowly… and as continuously as possible… as moving meditation… This was the very same tradition of senjutsu that was mastered by the First Hokage… Senju Hashirama… under the tutelage of my own grandfather… who also taught me… Our mutual friends on Mount Myoboku… tell me that you can maintain clones in sage mode… and that this was how you first learned to make practical use of it… How many of these can you do this with simultaneously?… Can you show me?…
Naruto:
Hai!…
Naruto performs some hands seals, and five similarly dressed and similarly blindfolded Narutos materialize in Naruto’s living room.
Shintaro:
Five eh?… That should should be adequate… for now… But we don’t need all of them just yet… Go ahead and dispel them for now… But that will be both a key part of your training… and a key part of your new work habits… I’m sure you’ve used clones this way before… But now it is a strict restriction… and a strict limit if you are to remain as hokage…
Naruto dispels his clones as Shintaro continues.
Shintaro:
For the duration of your rehabilitative working sabbatical… you are strictly required to be something… of a strict homebody…
Naruto:
A strict homebody?…
Shintaro:
Ai… And what I mean by that is that… your main original body… is strictly required… to stay… train… and work… from home… You may send clones elsewhere… as necessary… as hokage… But strict training conditions must be maintained at all times… for all clones… save for one… Create one regular clone right now… and transfer as much of the Nine-Tales chakra to it as you can… then give the Nine-Tales control of the clone…
As Shintaro says this, Naruto dutifully complies, and out pops a single clone of blind Naruto.
Shintaro:
This clone… will be the only clone of yours… that will be allowed to see normally… for the duration of the training… effectively making the Kurama clone… your only remaining physical eyes on Konoha… The clone consciousness within the Kurama clone will continue training from inside of the clone… and will practice the transformation jutsu… to give Kurama… a more Kurama-like appearance… But smaller… at least small enough to fit inside the house…
After instruction, Naruto creates the clone, then the clone transforms into a very much smaller version of Kurama’s natural appearance, resembling an example of the small Kurama toy popular in Konaha at the present moment.
Kurama:
Himawari is going to flip out when she sees me like this… this should be fun…
Shintaro:
For the duration of your training… except for special supervised training field trips… you will strictly be restricted… to staying strictly at home… and strictly blindfolded… strictly at all times… for yourself and all clones… except for Kurama of course… All strictly maintained in sage made… as strictly continuously… as strictly possible… am I strictly clear?…
Naruto:
Hai!… Very strictly!… Wakata Ya know!…
Shintaro:
For any other purpose or task… you will have to send a sage mode blindfolded clone to do it… And if he can’t do it… then don’t bother… Let someone else deal with it… And keep in mind… you have to send at least one such clone to your office to take oral intel briefings in person… As I mentioned before… in order to stay in the loop at least a little bit as hokage… But you’ll have to prioritize your attentions… Eh?… Shikamaru?… What say you to that?…
Shikamaru:
Ai… Ai… Sounds good so far… I might have to modify that a bit… as we go…
Shintaro:
The only modifications that I can allow… are those provided by Naruto’s own mastery going forward… As Naruto learns and trains more… he will gradually acquire the skills to take on more responsibilities… even under restrictions… After all… If I’ve been doing things this way my whole life… the least that he can do… is manage it for a little training sabbatical…
Shikamaru:
Ai… Ai… I’ll make it work… somehow… The elders will be cross… But I’ll explain it to them… somehow… Mendocuse…
Shintaro:
And don’t feel neglected… grandson… I have a lot to teach the both of you… But… although you certainly have some of the Uzumaki nature within you… I can certainly sense it… The Uchiha strain… has always been… a very dominant strain… So much of the most useful information I can provide… could best be had by observing how I instruct Naruto… especially if you try to copy it to the fullest extent that you can… with those fancy new eyes of yours… You’ll probably find it more amusing as well… if nothing else…
Sasuke:
Ai… It’s been kind of hysterical so far…
Naruto:
Hey!…
Shintaro:
Well… Why don’t we have ourselves a picnic?… I’ll expand Naruto’s homebody restrictions… to include his father-in-law’s home… the academy… as well as the hospital for regular checkups and progress reports… But also the old Uchiha Quarter… so that you can still spar with your friend Sasuke here… Provided you can manage to do so without losing any more limbs… I’ll be very cross if I have to keep regenerating limbs… You know Naruto… with enough mastery of senjutsu… you should simply be able to regenerate your own missing arm… You should be able to do it now… But don’t worry about that now… The kids are already there… Why don’t we just grab some food and other provisions… and have ourselves a little picnic over in the old Uchiha Quarter… I owe a dept to the Uchiha Clan that I can never repay… and Choza told me that they lost they’re house a while back… under mysterious circumstances… If we go to the old Uchiha Quarter… I might be able to take care of that for them… while instructing both of you in the process…
Sakura:
Hai!… Hai!… That’s a great idea!… But never mind what happened to the old house!… We don’t need to rehash any of that now!… Do we Sasuke?…
Sasuke:
Ai… Sakura… No need at all… Sarada told me all about it… Family secret right?…
Sakura:
Hai!… Hai!… Sodesuyo!… So let’s go!… A picnic and a new house sounds lovely!…
Shintaro:
We can swing by Choza’s for catering… I’m sure the kids will be famished from training… Although… You might want to send an office clone to work with Shinkamaru… to start your training there as well… Eh?… Shikamarusama?…
Shikamaru:
Hai!… We should get going!… I’ll take Choji and get started sorting out that crazy vault of yours… among other things… I still have to find and process Shintaro’s original report… I’ll go ahead and get a series of intel briefings started for your office clone… But for now… He’ll just have to join me and Choji so that he can start with me… while I tell him all the things that you didn’t want to know before… Wakarimasuka?…
Naruto:
Hai!… Wakata!.. Ya know!…
Shintaro:
As far as my original report is concerned… I figured it might have been lost… or ended up being hard to find… So I took the precaution of bringing an updated copy…
Shintaro pulls out his small storage scroll again and conjures up another large scroll, this time bearing the crest of the Otsutsuki upon it, then tosses it over to the waiting arms of Shikamaru.
Shintaro:
This should provide plenty of study material for you… even without the contents of the vault… Naruto… A word of advice on keeping up appearances… from an admittedly dubious source… You might want to conceal your appearance when out in public… since the public might find the sight of their blindfolded leader to be a bit… disconcerting… definitely not confidence inspiring… Hiding this will no doubt be easier… than explaining it… You might want to send your clones about Konoha dressed up as members of the anbu… It may interest you to know… that the anbu custom of wearing masks… was inspired by the customs of the Uzumaki demon hunters… Traditional Uzumaki training often involved wearing blinds for long periods of time… during training… Many an Uzumaki would choose to remain blindfolded… as a genjutsu defense… as the Uzumaki were normally typically very weak in terms of genjutsu… with myself being a notable exception… But they would wear a scary looking mask… both to hide the blindfold… as well as engage in a bit of psychological warfare against the demons… incorrigibly fearful and cowardly creatures…
Shintaro holds both of his hands together palms up, as bits of paper begin to peel up off of his hands, and begin to form the shape of a paper mache mask within his hands, but without holes for the eyes, formed blank but with the approximate shape of a toads face, and a big wide opening grin shaped mouth hole. Once the mask is completely formed, Shintaro sets it down upon the breakfast bar counter top, then reaches into his bag of tricks to pull out his brush again. Then Shintaro raises up his left hand, and his demon ink gourd materializes directly into his hand, after disappearing from the coffee table. Shintaro removes the cork on top of the gourd and waves his brush over the top of it before leading a small amount the ink to pop out of the top of the gourd and follow the brush down onto the mask. Shintaro’s brush hovers centimeters over the surface of the mask, leading the ink about the surface of the mask in much the same way as how a magnet may manipulate the patterns that appear in metal shavings placed upon a sheet of paper.
As Shintaro paints, he makes two toads eyes in black ink on the white mask, with two horizontal black slits for irises, within a pair of black ovals. Shintaro then turns the mask over and inscribes a seal formula upon the inside surface of the mask, then walks over to the wall next to where Naruto is practicing his sage mode. Shintaro places the mask on Naruto’s face and holds it there with his left hand, while placing his right hand on the wall behind Naruto, as he begins to infuse his own sage mode chakra. Shintaro then removes his hand from the wall, where a glowing purple outline of some sort of seal formula appears on the wall momentarily before fading, as he removes the mask from Naruto’s face.
Shintaro:
Here… I have made a more traditional Uzumaki style anbu mask… It was often the custom among the more dedicated Uzumaki demon hunters… to inscribe what was referred to… as the final seal… among other things… The final seal would take many forms… including the original version of the Death Reaper Seal… which was the basis of the seal your father used to make you a jinchuriki… The final seal… whatever the formula… was meant to be the final resort of the demon hunter… to seal the demon in question at the expense of the demon hunters life…
Hinata:
Take it off right now!!!…
Shintaro:
Take it easy Hinatasama!… I haven’t put anything like that on the mask… That is not the only kind of seal used by the Uzumaki… One such seal… was also the basis of the Flying Raijin… of course we just called it the homecoming justu… Fasten this mask to your blindfold and go outside somewhere… then infuse your own chakra into the mask…
Naruto goes outside onto the deck and does as instructed. Suddenly with a poof, Naruto disappears from the deck outside and materializes next to the wall in a flash of electric purple lightening, as the invisible seal formula on the wall suddenly glows brightly purple, before disappearing again.
Shintaro:
The range of this justu is limited to this planet alone… with ordinary chakra… Beyond that… it is a question of how much sage mode chakra you can apply to the seal… But you are limited to one location marker only… Otherwise… you will have to master the full Flying Raijin… in order to use more than one marker… and that will limit your range further… Now all you need is a hoodie… and almost no one will know it’s you until you open your mouth… assuming they know your voice…
Hinata goes into the hallway and comes back with a light gray hooded cloak, with two horizontal dark red stripes along the bottom, from Naruto’s field service days, and drapes it over his shoulders.
Shintaro:
Now you can send a clone along with Shikamaru… without arousing to much concern…
Naruto pops out a new blindfolded, masked, and cloaked sage mode Naruto clone, which then leaves with Shikamaru and Choji.
Shintaro:
So?… Shall we go now too?… Sasuke?… I need to talk to the Uchihas alone… for some confidential matters… I can send for the catering from Choza’s restaurant… But perhaps… the Uzumaki’s can go in person… and give me a chance for a private word with the Uchihas?… You can meet us in the old Uchiha Quarter…
Naruto:
That sounds perfect!… ya know!… Let’s go!… Eh?… Hinatachan?…
Hinata:
Hai!… Icu!…
Hand in hand, Hinata leads a masked, hooded, and blindfolded Naruto, to Choza’s restaurant, as Shintaro heads off to the old Uchiha Quarter with his grandson and his grandson’s wife, hesitating to broach a sensitive matter as they walk, with Shintaro’s grandson now wearing his new daisho, strapped to his left side like a samurai or a feudal lord.
Sasuke:
Okay… What is it now?… What is it this time?…
Shintaro:
Well… There are a few sensitive matters to discuss… The first… in regards to Sarada… I don’t know what she’s told you… about her experience… with the incident involving the demons…
Sasuke:
Sarada has the Mangekyo Sharingan now… doesn’t she?… She hasn’t said a word… But I can sense it now… She must have really believed that I was dead… Even if it wasn’t true… That pain doesn’t just go way…
Shintaro:
Yukai and I arrived only just in time to witness her first use of the Ameterasu… fired wildly against the assembled demons… She should be cautioned against any careless and gratuitous uses of such higher powers… as they come with a price… as you may well know…
Sasuke:
Ai… I will take care of that personally… Is that all?… I’m sensing that you got something else… something heavier to unburden yourself with perhaps?…
Shintaro:
Ai… It’s about your brother Itachi… Your brother… is alive… in a manner of speaking…
Sasuke:
What do you mean alive?!?… In what Manner of speaking?!?…
Shintaro:
Your bother has been reincarnated… But not as a human… He’s been reincarnated… as a type of yokai… a crow spirit… He has retained his full memories… from his time as Itachi… He’s even become known as Itachi the Crow…
Sasuke:
Where is he?… Take me to him!… Immediately!… Or bring him here!…
Shintaro:
I can’t do any of that!… And even if I could… I would not!… as it would endanger his life!… In his new life… your brother Itachi has become… an important figure in the resistance… against the Otsutsuki Empire… No one can ever be allowed… to have any unnecessary advanced knowledge of any of your brother’s whereabouts or activities… That being said… I do happen to know… that he was planning on coming here… at some point… But the time of that… is impossible to determine… by design… He is also a frequent visitor to the White Snake Sage… in Ryuchi Cave… But again… The timing of that is impossible to determine… again… by design… The White Snake Sage is a big fan of your brother’s… quite the gushing gossip… once you get her going… about the resistance too… as well as your bother… Half the news I hear about your brother… and the resistance… I end up hearing first from her!… It may also interest you to know… that your brother Itachi was a frequent visitor… to your daughter Sarada… when she was much younger… He says that… she called him… ‘Karasusama’…
Sakura:
Karasusama?!?… Karasusama was real?!?… I remember when she was little… that she would always tell me these stories… about her adventures with Karasusama!… I always thought that she was making it all up… to get my attention… But it was always the best part of my day… to hear what… if anything new… had happened with Karasusama that day… I’m going to have to have a word with that brother of yours… about Karasusama!…
Shintaro:
He came looking for you… Sasuke… But you were never around back then I guess… But she always was… And no matter how hard he tried to sneak about… she always spotted him… every time… She must have the chakra sense… to some extent… as well as the Mangekyo Sharingan…
Sakura:
Do you mean… the Uzumaki’s chakra sense?…
Shintaro:
Ai… Itachi said that… she could unerringly sense him and his presence… whenever he tried to sneak about… He could make it past Sakura… But… every time that he thought he had made it past Sarada… she would pop around some corner saying… ‘There you are!… Karasusama!… What are you up to today?… Sneaking about again?’… He said it was like she could see through walls… even without visual prowess…
Sakura and Sasuke start laughing at the imagined spectacle, of spy catcher Sarada versus Itachi the Crow.
Sasuke:
So… you think that Sarada… can do that thing… that Karin does?… Uzumaki Karin?… Orochimaru’s research assistant?…
Shintaro:
Hai!… In fact… Uzumaki Karin… is my niece… She was my older sister’s kid… I arranged for my old friend Orochimaru… to look after her for me… When I finally found her… I was too late for my older sister… As I was… for a lot of people… Orochimaru was full rogue by then… But I knew that I could trust Orochimaru not to betray me at least… He knows that there are many fates worse than death… And I know how to deliver good number of them… And I was already a rogue myself by then… I had limited options… And I knew that she would be well instructed… and that there most likely would be no permanent damage at least…
Sasuke:
Do you have any idea… what he tried to do to me?…
Shintaro:
What you asked him to do… you mean?… for the sake of power… in pursuit of the madness of revenge?… price of the consequences to you and everyone around you be damned?… Wrathsama?… Ai… He told me all about it years afterwards… after you reneged on the deal… and killed him… at least once… I’m not the least bit shocked by any of it… not even mildly surprised… He says that he didn’t know… that you were my grandson… I believe him… for what it’s worth… Although I doubt it would have made a difference… given how desperate you were… in pursuit of the madness of revenge… I am certainly no one to judge anyone… on the madness of revenge… But… it is what it is…
Sasuke:
It was what it was!…
Sakura:
Well… I want to know about Sarada!… You two can always argue about Orochimaru later… I want to hear about Sarada!… You said you think she might be able to do that Uzumaki thing?…
Shintaro:
Well… Not exactly… When she was younger perhaps… The young are always the most sensitive… The old have to be trained… But then she matured and her Sharingan developed and took over… as an organizing focus for her perception… But her Uzumaki sensitivity… is bound to effect her… and perhaps augment her Mangekyo Sharingan somehow… But no one can say how… All I know is that she shows great promise for senjutsu… You as well for that matter… Dibs… by the way… Sakura?…
Sakura:
Nani?…
Sasuke:
What do you mean… dibs?…
Shintaro:
Oh… That’s right… You two missed my explanation of the Dibs Rules of the Sages… Suffice to say… by the transitivity of apprenticeship… the apprentice of my apprentice… is my apprentice by default… Hence dibs…
Sakura:
How exactly does that dibs apply to me and Sarada?…
Shintaro:
Tsunade was a student of mine… And not only was I her first instructor in the medical arts… I also attempted to instruct her in senjutsu… of the Uzumaki tradition… But she thought it too impractical… ‘a longshot bet’… So she developed her Mitochondrial Regeneration jutsu… as a substitute technique… But I told her at the time… that anyone who can master that technique… should easily be able master senjutsu… if they just applied themselves… Since it was based upon the medical side of the Uzumaki tradition to begin with… the basis of medical senjutsu… the very same medical senjutsu that regenerated my grandsons limbs… But Tsunade always wanted to travel and gamble more… and that was on top of being a practical working shinobi to begin with… So she was impatient for a bet she could rely on… when others went belly up… But what I said to her about mastering the Mitochondrial Regeneration jutsu… applies just as well to you and Sarada… since I can tell that you’ve already mastered the Mitochondrial Regeneration jutsu… and that Sarada’s well on her way to mastering it herself… So dibs… and dibs…
Sakura:
But… Sarada isn’t even training in the Mitochondrial Regeneration jutsu!… I would know if she was!… right?… Sasuke?…
Sasuke:
I thought she was… You weren’t training her in that?… Maybe Shizune?… Because I thought she was training in it… I could tell… I could sense it in her chakra… I could see it… I figured that was the reason for her stamina issues… a necessary growing pain of mastering the jutsu… or so you told me once… I didn’t say anything… because I figured it was all well in hand…
Sakura:
No one is training her in that… as far as I know… I don’t even think she even knows about that!… I’ve never even heard her talk about it… I’ve only just begun proper medical training with her!…
Shintaro:
Perhaps she has been copying it from you… without knowing it… subconsciously… intuitively… via sympathetic resonance… a tendency of the Uzumaki… a tendency of all people with the talent to become shinobi to some extent… but especially with the Uzumaki… augmented perhaps by her Sharingan… now Mangekyo… She’s not that far off like said… and without even trying… It shouldn’t be that difficult to bring her the rest of the way… if you can get her to do it on purpose… Right now… I want to talk about that gourd… as I may have a suggestion… that could also serve to help Sarada… given the sympathetic resonance between the two of you… Did I mention dibs?…
Sasuke:
Get on with it!… What are you suggesting?… Baca Sennin?…
Shintaro:
Well… As I think I have said before… in case I forgot to mention it… I have a means of medical senjutsu… by which your brother’s eye’s… may be sealed within the natural eyes of someone else… granting that someone else access to their power without need for surgical transplantation… a seal that can be unsealed and resealed as many times as necessary… although only with Medical Senjutsu… in this instance… I suggest your wife be made the bearer… of this heirloom of the Uchihas… You and Sarada can observe and copy what ever you can… while I perform the procedure… But you’ll have to master senjutsu first… in order to use it… It would help facilitate my new apprentice mastering senjutsu herself… in order to pass it on… in more ways than one… to my other new apprentice… Something to think about perhaps… over the course of a picnic?…
The trio grow silent in thoughtful mental digestion for a few moments as they walk, before Shintaro changes the subject slightly.
Shintaro:
While were on the subject of the dibs rules…
Sakura:
We weren’t talking about dibs rules…
Shintaro:
In accordance with the dibs rules of the sages… by rights grandson… as the apprentice of the apprentice… of the White Snake Sage… that effectively means… that the White Snake Sage of Ryuchi Cave… has dibs on you already… And she doesn’t like to share… But she likes me… So we talk… Now… I don’t know how she learned about this… But she has learned that young Boruto… has become your apprentice… thus dibs… So when Boruto made his way through Ryuchi Cave recently… for something unrelated… he was offered an apprenticeship in senjutsu… by the none other than White Snake Sage herself… And he turned her down… Because he wasn’t interested in senjutsu at the time… or so she says… If Orochimaru has told you anything about the White Snake Sage… is that she doesn’t like to share… and she doesn’t take well to being shunned or rejected… She’s sensitive… And the bitterness of that memory of the rejection… will gradually grow to the point where… it’s only a matter of time before Boruto gets eaten!… if he doesn’t rectify his disrespect…
Sasuke:
Ai… Wakata… I’ll take care of it… I’ll talk to him… and her…
Shintaro:
It may also interest you… to have your own copy of Urashiki’s report…
Shintaro Reaches into his messenger bag and pulls out a simple scroll, tied with a red twine thread, seemingly made with Shintaro’s own red hair, then hands it over to Sasuke.
Shintaro:
I thought you might want one… Suffice to say that… in it… Urashiki blames you for everything… including the deaths of Momoshiki and his attendant… For all he knew… in dealing with you… it might as well have been true… But we both know that is not true… Because you don’t bare the mark of the god slayer… But your apprentice does… Does his father know about this?… I didn’t want to mention it before… having already put so much upon him…
Shintaro pauses, as he walks and turns to the two of them, then holds up his right hand, palm forward, showing a small red diamond mark within the palm of his hand, before turning to continue.
Sasuke:
He knows about the mark… But we don’t really know much about it… We haven’t learned that much about it… since he ended up with it… after giving the killing blow to Momoshiki…
Shintaro:
Good… It’s probably best not to tell him right now anyway… and your his son’s master anyway… The mark is caused by a number of different phenomenon… It is called the Mark of the God Slayer… because the act of killing a powerful enough being… tends to force open conduits of energy… that normally are only open… when using senjutsu… it self also associated with alleged god slaying… It tends to make permanent physical changes to one’s personal chakra network… resulting in a mark of some kind… of some shape or color… somewhere on the body… The Mitochondrial Regeneration Jutsu has the same side effect… Depending on the nature of the particular mark… and how it developed… and by whom… they can be very volatile… even explosive… But great for channeling energy into shikigami… and for mastering senjutsu to begin with… Do Boruto or Sarada… have any training or experience with shikigami?…Your grandmother was an true artist with it… especially with fire style shikigami fuinjutsu… It was her favored weapon in sealing demons… She even invented her own technique… the Phoenix Flower Shikigami Fire Dance…
As they walk, the previously more serious conversation, is taken over completely with Shintaro’s reminiscing and relating, of the various adventures of his young Phoenix Flower and the broad overview of fire style shikigami technique. As Shintaro begins to lecture on the way to the Uchiha land, the main original Naruto makes his way masked, hooded, and blindfolded, over to Choza’s restaurant to make his order for the picnic, led by the hand of Hinata. At Choza’s Restaurant he finds Karui hanging out with her sister, scarfing down comfort food like a pregnant Akimichi, while Konohamru chats up her sister Ishitara.
Naruto:
Careful Konohamaru!… Her father is an infamous terrorist ya know!… What exactly are your intentions towards my cousin Ishitara?…
Konohamaru:
Nani?!?… Intentions?… I’m just… I…
Karui:
Oh… Don’t let him rattle you Konohamaru… Wow… Only a day in… and already as bad as he is… My father is a bad influence… You know that right?… Just because you can sense something… doesn’t mean you have to announce it!… with all due respect… hokagesama…
Naruto:
Ai… Ai… Sumimasen… Sumimasen… ya know… Hey… Karui… Hinata and I are here to pick up some supplies for a picnic… I could definitely use some help… Konohamaru!… But I would also like to get to know my new cousins better… I’ve known you guys and watched Chocho grow up here in Konoha… But all of a sudden… I have all these new cousins that I didn’t even know I had… I recognize there were all sorts of reasons… I think I even understand some of them… ya know… I would love to hear some of the stuff… that uncle Shintaro needed you to keep secret for him… I don’t need to know… what I don’t need to know… ya know… and I know you well enough… to know… that you know that… ya know… right?… I think…
Karui:
Ai… Wakata… ya know… Baca Kage…
Naruto:
Ouch cousin… Why don’t you and Ishitara join your father and us on the Uchiha land… for a picnic… Chocho is already there… with Sarada and your brother Yukai… I think your father is going to do end up doing some really weird stuff to the Uchiha land… And… I would like to get to know you guys better… I sure Konohamaru would love to get to know you guys better… And I’m going to need Konohamaru… probably permanently… for all intents and purposes… for my new training… ya know…
Hinata:
I know Himawari would love to get know cousin Ishitara better as well… She couldn’t stop talking about her magic koto and her Super Beast Scroll… We don’t mind the house Ishitara… Your father fixed everything… better than it was really… So don’t feel bad… It’s more like what I always wanted now anyway…
Naruto:
Hey!…
Hinata:
Feel free to come over any time Ishitara… But expect to be pelted with a hundred questions by our Himawari… Fair warning… I suppose…
Karui:
Alright cousin… Lets have a picnic… Ishitara… You can bring your new boyfriend… Don’t bother feigning ignorance… Everybody knows… She’s worse than my father… She doesn’t say a word… But everybody knows…
Choza:
You might want to grab Hiashi too…
Karui:
Ishitara can to do that!… We’ve been doing nothing but… since this morning… I think she’s showing off… and getting to know her new home… Ishitara… Come help cousin hokage get around today… And we’ll go have a picnic with your new boyfriend…
As Shintaro and the Uchihas walk, their conversation gradually turns back to the childhood adventures of the spy catcher Sarada and Karasusama, until they finally make their way to the old Uchiha Quarter, where they find Karasusama’s former protege still training with Yukai and the others nearby.
Shintaro:
Every time… Itachi tells me… Every time he would come sneaking around to check up on you… who were never there… she would catch him… And then he would have to concoct some new story to explain why a talking crow was sneaking about her house… Eventually he came around just to get to know her… He had to stop coming around any more after he became involved in the resistance… Because it would be too dangerous… And so Karasusama had to say sayonara one day… permanently…
Sakura:
I remember… I remember her being so broken up about it at the time… I remember wondering if it was healthy… for her to be so upset about it… for what I thought was just an imaginary friend…
As they walk and talk, Shintaro takes note of the surroundings, as they hear the clashing of steel in the near distance.
Shintaro:
So… is this all… Uchiha land?… It’s all forest now… Isn’t it?… Was it raised?… planted?…
Sasuke:
Ai… And prepared for sale… But no one wanted it… because of the association… It’s… People think… that it’s haunted… the worthless inheritance of the Uchiha…
Shintaro:
Well… I certainly wouldn’t say worthless… But it certainly is haunted!…
Sakura:
Haunted?… Baca!… You must be joking!… You don’t really mean that it is actually haunted do you?…
Shintaro:
I do mean that precisely!… I was born and raised on a haunted island… I know haunted… Although this place is not as haunted as Uzu… It is haunted nonetheless!…
Sarada:
It’s not haunted… It just has a bad… history…
Chocho:
See!… I don’t even have to look!… I knew they were here!…
Shintaro:
And Sarada probably did too… But she not as familiar with it as you are…
Sarada and Chocho walk into the clearing of the path where Sarada’s parents stand with Shintaro.
Shintaro:
And when I say haunted… I do indeed mean haunted… Mass tragedy can have a physical effect on a place… When a large number of sympathetically resonant people are gathered together in one place… like a clan… it can have an effect… leaving an emotional imprint… With enough of just such emotional imprints… and of strong enough… and extreme enough emotion… the very fabric of existence can be permanently altered… creating a rare natural deviation in normal reality… a paranormal state of existence… a nexus zone… between the realm of light and the realm of shadow… similar in nature to Uzu… but less extreme… It is a potential opening to the infinite… for better and for worse… and for everything in between… It must be sealed and guarded… as sacred ground… as well as a treasure… this inheritance of Uchihas…
Shintaro stuns into silence, then an eerie sort of music filters into the air followed by endless flickering shimmering lights, as Naurto and Hinata materialize along with Ishitara and all the takeout from Choza’s, along with Choza carrying copious amounts of sake again. Hiashi, Hannabi, and Konohamaru, carry several large bags of the takeout, and a number of chilled gourds labeled ‘Choza’s Uzu Tea.’ Karui reluctantly accompanies in tow, as chaperon for her sister. Yukai, Boruto, and Himawari join them, as they are drawn to the sound of the musical kerfuffle.
Shintaro:
Discretion Ishitara… Discretion… I’m glad to see your getting around though… But you must use discretion…
Naruto:
I asked her to… That one’s on me… ya know… She’s really good at that… ya know…
Shintaro:
Ai… Sodesuyo… She’s quite gifted… It is in large part due to the power of the Starlight Rinnegan… with the Starlight Gaze… the master navigator of the visual prowess… of the Otsutsuki… Although not as perceptive and penetrating a gaze… as that of the Byakugan… it nonetheless has the power to see… without looking… over the vast and infinite distances of the metaverse… And to see the pathway there… through it’s very fabric… through the very aether itself… among other talents…
Chocho:
Do I have to learn the koto to do that?…
Shintaro:
No Chocho… That is not required… Only the Starlight Rinnegan itself is really required… The koto… is just a focus and a conduit for her power… Just as my ocarina is a focus and a conduit for mine…
Shintaro pulls his ocarina out from his messenger bag and begins to play. The random breezes within the surrounding woods, begin to sway and to swoon, and then to synchronize and to echo with Shintaro’s playing, as it echos throughout the surrounding woods. Then Shintaro’s voice echos back.
Shintaro:
I came here with the full intention… of simply building my grandsons family a house… Or whatever they needed… I was definitely planning an extensive medicinal herb garden… But now that I’m here… I realize that special measures will have to be taken… due to the special nature of the place that I’ve found here… special protections… for special treasures… But first… a better vantage point…
As Shintaro continues to play, off in the near distance, on top of a nearby hill over looking the old Uchiha Quarter land, a giant cherry blossom erupts out of the ground and forms a large wooden tree house structure, interwoven with, and growing out of, the giant cherry blossom tree itself. The massive trunk, and all the various branches, all seem to grow conveniently to facilitate the creating of the tree house structure itself, complete with wrap around decks everywhere, with a clear view of everything. Shintaro stops playing and puts away his ocarina to bask in the glory of his handiwork.
Sasuke:
So you built a tree house?… Great… The Uchiha Clan of monkeys!…
Shintaro:
The tree house is not for the Uchiha… I have taken the liberty of making myself a guest house… plus project office… for the Uchiha Quarter project… Ishitara!… To the tree house please!…
At Shintaro’s prompting, Ishitara begins to stroke her koto again, and with the accompanying flickering and shimmering of lights and enchanting music, the assembled friends and family, in their entirety, complete with picnic party provisions, are transported to a large central enclosed space of the tree house just over the giant main trunk.
Shintaro:
I cannot personally vouch for such things directly… But… from this vantage point… you should be able to see the entirety of the Uchiha property… Sodesuka?…
Sasuke:
Ai… and all of Konoha beyond as well…
Shintaro:
Excellent!… Now we may begin properly… Gather round!…
The gathered friends and family do as Shintaro instructs, after grabbing their respective party supplies for the show. Shintaro performs a series of hands seals before clasping his hands together in front of him, then a series of bits of paper begin to fly out from Shintaro’s lose hanging sleeves, born upon a wind coming from the same source, flying over and swirling about in the center of the room in front of Shintaro, until forming and coalescing into a giant glowing scroll, which then opens up and lays itself down on the floor in front of Shintaro. As the large glowing scroll is unfolded, it appears to be a topographic map representation of the old Uchiha Quarter with bits of paper piled up on the surface of the unfolded scroll to represent a topographical relief, with a large glowing region superimposed over the topographical representation.
Shintaro:
This is our canvas… the old Uchiha Quarter… with the potential jewel of our crown here… being that glowing mass that you no doubt see overlaid… That is the region of nexus… created by the tragedy of the Uchiha… both great vulnerability… and great potential access… to the vast infinitude of the meta-verse… But to start with… we will need an effective perimeter… for fortress Uchiha…
Sakura:
Fortress Uchiha?!?… We can’t have a fortress!…
Sasuke:
Ai… Ai… Sodesune… My wife is quite right… I would love a fortress… But we can’t have a fortress… Too much history…
Shintaro:
Well perhaps a temple fortress… My preference is for a temple fortress… I’m very good with temple fortresses… Some sort of fortress will be required… But perhaps something less ostentatious and provocative is called for… I find that nothing says ‘buzz off and keep out’… more politely and pleasantly… like a thick thorny thicket of rose bushes… plus numerous other sorts of thorny flowery hedgerow worthy vegetation… plus cherry blossoms… I can do great things with cherry blossoms… Huge!… The best ever!… big beautiful cherry blossoms trees…
Shintaro pulls out his ocarina again to play. As he plays, more bits of paper form up upon the topographical representation, in order to reflect the changes as they happen to the real Uchiha Quarter. Simultaneously, a large thick hedgerow springs up surrounding the Uchiha Quarter, with a thorny thicket of roses and other bits of thorny flowery shrubbery, interwoven and intricately tangled with a line of cherry blossom trees, completely surrounding the Uchiha Quarter, except for three gateway tunnelings through it, along the border between the Uchiha Quarter and the rest of Konoha, with their tree house within the new thorny flowery barrier.
As Shintaro continues to play, another impression forms of a similar thorny thicket, in a solid ring around an especially bright glowing part of the Uchiha Quarter, before Shintaro finishes up his playing and puts away his ocarina. Shintaro performs a quick series of hand seals, and the new features of Shintaro’s map begin to glow slightly brighter, as do all of the various cherry blossom trees made with it. As the cherry blossom trees lose their glow, the map continues to glow where they now reside.
Shintaro:
There… That is the minimum precaution… for now…
Sasuke:
Precaution against what?…
Shintaro:
Against demons… with the Temple Barrier Seal formula… that I inscribed into the very substance of every cherry blossom tree… which I used on the entire Uchiha Quarter property… completely enclosing the property… and protecting the property… from demonic influence… While the barrier is in place… no demon can easily enter… whether within a host… or between hosts… effectively making the entire old Uchiha Quarter… sacred temple grounds… as far as any demon is concerned… But this is no perfect protection… If you doubt that for a second… then remember the fate of Uzushio…
Sasuke:
What’s that circle supposed to be?… I think that’s… where the old Uchiha Temple used to be… isn’t it?… The Nakano Shrine?…
Shintaro:
That would not surprise me if it was… As I remember it… the Uchiha Quarter was selected from the land where the temple was… and for that reason… It was not simply a ghetto… Temples are often placed as special markers upon special grounds to begin with… The tragedy of the Uchiha… no doubt resonated with the Uchiha Temple… expanding an existing minor nexus zone… upon which the temple was formed to begin with… Whatever happened to the original temple?… I don’t recall any existing temple… from when we approached… I always have a sense for these things…
Sasuke:
It was raised… along with everything else… prior to the attempted sale… which never happened… A small improvised shrine with an etched stone… is all that’s left…
Shintaro:
A veritable sacrilegious heresy!… A slight that must be rectified immediately!… Ishitara!… If you please!… To the center of the storm!…
Ishitara begins to strum her koto, and the now familiar telltale signs of Ishitara’s teleportation jutsu, surround the assembled family and friends, along with a now familiar musical score. They are all transported to a space of ground just outside the inner circle of hedgerows that contains the heart of the Uchiha nexus, next to small tunnel in the hedgerow, providing a walkway to the inside. Shintaro starts to walk inside and motions for the others to follow.
Shintaro:
Come along!… There is no time to waste!…
Naruto:
How come we didn’t end up in the center?… Ishitara?…
Shintaro:
I had already put a stronger barrier on the inner circle… before… when I made it… This is the most sensitive… and therefore most sacred part… requiring much stronger protection…
As Shintaro walks hurriedly, the others follow closely behind, with Ishitara leaving her koto behind to follow. In his impatience, Shintaro momentarily lets a part of his slight-of-hand pretense slip, and materializes his ocarina directly into his hand, without having to reach into his messenger bag for it, as Sarada notices, carefully observing with her Sharingan. As Shintaro Begins to play, a flurry of papers that seem to resemble paper bombs, but with various other seal formula written on them, fly out from Shintaro’s lose hanging sleeves, and start to cover much of outside surface of the hedgerow structure encircling the core of the Uchiha nexus, causing it all to start to glow. As they make there way in to the center, Shintaro stops playing his ocarina, having now already covered his previous handiwork in reinforcements.
Shintaro:
There!… That should do it for now!…
Sasuke:
Do what for now?… Do it for what now?…
Shintaro:
Temple dedication… for the new Uchiha Temple…
Sasuke:
What Uchiha Temple?…
Shintaro:
The Uchiha Temple that I’m about to build… of course… Unless you don’t want one… The site should be marked by more than a stone and a guardian hedgerow…
Sakura:
Perhaps… a temple pagoda!… like the one you made in Senju Park!…
Sasuke:
Sakura!… This is a graveyard!… A crime scene!…
Shintaro:
It doesn’t have to be that way grandson… If the Uchiha are to have a rebirth as a clan… perhaps you would be better off with a memorial temple… than with an unmade tomb… to bitter memories…
Sarada:
Papa?… It’s not that I necessarily care or anything… but I like pagodas too…
Sasuke:
Alright… Wakata… Do your worst… Lets see what you can do…
Shintaro:
‘Do your worst’?… ‘Lets see what you can do’?… Is that any attitude to have… towards sacred temple dedication?…
Sasuke:
What do you want from me?…
Shintaro:
For the moment… a proper name… The Uchiha nexus needs a proper public name… and a memorial marker… as a reminder of it’s purpose… Neither a name… nor a purpose… are things that I’m qualified to give to it… not being an Uchiha myself… It is simply not my place… This is something you must do I’m afraid…
Sarada:
The Uchiha Temple… of the Phoenix Flower…
Sakura:
That’s a lovely name…
Sasuke:
Ai… Perfect…
Shintaro:
Good… With that settled… there is only the remaining question of that etched stone you mentioned… Has that always been here?… at this location?… or close to it?…
As Shintaro says this, he points without looking at the etched stone now contained within the inner hedgerow.
Sasuke:
Ai… For as long as the land has belonged to the Uchiha Clan… No… For as long as there has been an Uchiha Clan… that stone has been here… and from before… It was considered sacrilegious to move it unnecessarily… or at all really… But no one knows exactly where it was supposed to be originally… It was in the Nakano Shrine until I decided to raise it… then left the stone where I thought it was supposed to be… since that predated the Uchiha…
Shintaro:
It is a marker of the Sage of Six Paths… a nexus marker… not the only one of such markers… placed in key positions throughout the world… including Uzu… Normally they are not etched… except to label a location… But this one is clearly unique in terms of it’s significance to this particular plot of land… and to the history of the Uchiha tied to it… But it seems to be partially sealed… for some reason… This seal could be a device of the Black Zetsu… to artificially block it here… while opening up the demon portal into Uzushio… effectively helping to channel the hoards no doubt…
Sasuke:
Can you unseal it?…
Shintaro:
Hai!… Of course I can!… But Is that what you want?… Opening this… will mean guarding it… and taking responsibility for it… Are you sure?…
Sasuke:
Hai!… Do it!…
Shintaro:
Very well then!… So be it!… Let the full dedication… of the Uchiha Temple of the Phoenix Flower… commence immediately!…
Shintaro begins to play again and the wind begins to pick up a bit. Shintaro’s voice begins to echo from out of the hedgerow all around them.
Shintaro:
First a little tuning… of the sage’s marker…
As Shintaro plays, the etched stone begins to lift up off the ground, then pulls free of the trappings of the makeshift shrine that Sasuke had made for it there, and begins to float over to the center of the inner hedgerow.
Naruto:
You can do the Magnet style too!…
Shintaro:
Only in sage mode… and only so much… without my ocarina…
As the etched stone reaches the center of the Uchiha Nexus, it starts to glow as It hovers in the center. A stone disk platform comes up out of the ground, displacing all the grass in meadow beneath the hovering stone, before the stone gently lowers itself down to rest on the new stone platform. Then a flurry of fuinjutsu riddled paper flies out of Shintaro’s lose sleeves again, then spin around the etched stone before hovering and taking up positions in the air surrounding the stone. Suddenly, the seal papers start emitting an electric purple aura, as they begin to arc and discharge purple lightening repeatedly at the stone tablet, highlighting an invisible seal marker in electric purple, before eliminating the seal marker entirely. Then the various papers burn up in the air, turning to dust harmlessly.
Then wooden walls begin to spring up all around the stone disk platform, as it sinks down in to a new basement structure, along with the now unsealed and glowing stone. The wooden structure continues to grow up into a octagon shaped six level wooden temple pagoda, with the Uchiha crest carved into various surfaces all over the pagoda, and the characters for Phoenix Flower carved over every ground level entry door.
Just as the pagoda seems to be completed, another flurry of seal paper flies out from Shintaro, and papers over the new wooden temple before starting to glow the same glow as similar seal paper covering the surrounding hedgerow. Then all the various seal paper disappears, fading into the surfaces where they were, as Shintaro stops playing, leaving nothing but an ordinary looking pagoda in the middle of a surrounding hedgerow.
Shintaro:
Well?… Shall we see?… what we shall see?… in a manner of speaking…
As Sintaro says this, he turns to walk into the new pagoda, then passes out due to his previous extreme exertion, and collapses in front of the door to his new creation. But this time he doesn’t turn into a paper clone, to peel and fade away.
There Is No Alone!
Forever Never Ending!
There Is No Escape!
There Is No Point In Pretending!
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